Fairy Heart
by Alaer
Summary: Its been a year since the guild have disbanded, and now, after a year, everyone are getting back together. Only one problem, where is Natsu? Contains spoilers up to chapter 451.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, my first attempt at Fairy Tail fic. Though Im accepting all kind of corrections you might give me.**

 **I dont really intend to make this romance fiction, but there may be times where I need couples to spice up the story, so Im warning in advance that the main couples would probably be Zeref/Mavis and Natsu/Gray**

 **This fic got inspired by awesome work of elf07 called Strange Bonds and Strange Family, two stories which you absolutely must read if you like Zeref/Natsu broship!**

 **Lastly, I dont own Fairy Tail and even if I did I would give it to elf07 knowing im just amateur :D**

 **Anyway, Enjoy! (I hope)**

* * *

Its been a year.

A year since the guild got disbanded.

A year since she saw anyone from Fairy Tail.

Looking down the arena on the victors of this years Grand Magic Games, Lucy couldnt help but feel dissapointed. The Skull – something guild was one of the weakest she has seen, but since Fairy Tail wasnt joining GMG, all other guilds like Lamia Scare or Blue Pegasus refused to participate.

She sighted, Lucy heard Jacob saying in the background something about how she could guess the result but she paid no mind. After the official announcement and award for this no. 1 guild in Fiore, Lucy went straight home.

Even though the road was filled with people excited about GMG, she felt so alone. Her apartment was still the same one, but without Team Natsu barging in every second, it just didnt feel the same anymore. Not even the people on the ship near her home which would always tell her to be careful or how she looked beautiful were there anymore.

Somehow lost in her thoughts she arrived at the door of her apartment. Unlocking it, she immediately felt the emptiness of the room. No matter how many times she got dissapointed, Lucy always hoped that Natsu would be there somewhere, asking whats wrong.

She though she got used to it, but with GMG, the silence was overbearing for her. Putting away her things Lucy went to take a shower and hoped that warm water will help her a little from the stressful day. Opening doors into bathroom, undressing and getting into shower, she turned on the water and started to lose herself in her thoughts again. GMG just brought too many memories for Lucy, how she was kiddnapped, how was she saved by Natsu again, how they fought with the dragons and future Rogue…

So much for forgetting that over hot shower. Then again, she never wanted to forget these things entirely, since they were the best times of her life.

Turning off the water and wrapping towel around her body, she went into her room and looked up at the spider web of photos and pieces of newspaper tangled together by strings. Photos of her friends, and information about their whereabouts. She knew where everyone were – everyone - except Gray with Juvia and Natsu.

Natsu left for training before the guild was even disbanded, Lucy wondered how would he react if he got this kind of cruel reality thrown at him. Would he be sad? Would he be mad? And she couldnt even explain since no one knew why Master disbanded Fairy Tail in the first place.

Her train of thought was however interrupted when someone knocked on her door. Pondering if she was supposed to expect some visit today (yet couldnt think about even one), Lucy went to open the door only to be surprised to see Levy from the new Council on her doorframe.

„Levy-chan!" Lucys face instantly lit up from seeing one of her friends, and she went to hug the blue haired girl, well, that is until she noticed that certain raven haired dragon slayer was right behind her and Lucy froze in her place with her hands outstreched for the hug. She squaked and instantly backed away a little. No matter how long she knew Gajeel, he will always look scary to Lucy.

Noticing this, Levy gave her an apologetic smile. „Long time no see Lucy!" she heard Gajeel mutter something behind her but paid him no mind, since this was still a friendly reunion.

Gajeel grumbled as the two girls went inside the house, getting comfortable on the sofa with tea already somehow prepared, talking about what happened past year and after a while of seeing the oh so happy scene, he coughed, getting their attention. Lucy looked annoyed, though Levy suddenly wore a serious expression.

„Oh! Right, I forgot why we came in the first place…hehe…" Levy scratched the back of her head trying to hide her embarassment that she got lost so easily from their goal. „Lucy! We found out where Gray with Juvia are!" Lucy choked on her tea and smashed her hands onto the table, not too loud so it wouldnt look agressive.

„Really? No way! I was checking up the newspaper the whole time and never heard even of any trace of them!"

Levy smiled. „Well, lets just say its one of Councils advantages…" she trailed off, and the blonde gave her a curious look. „You see, it seems he had an undercover mission in one of the dark guilds, but this guild is trying to murder a whole village in Malba with huge army and we came to ask for help."

„Huh?"

„So basically…" Gajeel joined the conversation, not being able to stay here any longer since he knew that if he looses too much time he could miss out a good fight. „…pack your things up and meet us at the northern outskirts of town in two hours." He demanded.

Lucy nodded even before her mind started proccessing what have actually happened here but once she realized that she was going to se one of her best friends she couldnt help but cheer, completely forgetting about the fighting little detail.

After she packed up, however, she didnt forget to bring few letters adressed to her other guild mates that she intended to send for a long time now.

* * *

(Huge time-skip until after the battle, since I was lazy to write all that, since I gave warning for the spoilers I suppose you all read this chapter in manga, if not, go and read it damn! :D)

* * *

„Yo, Lucy!" the said blonde turned around and saw none else than Gray Fullbuster, waving at her with Juvia following him like stalker she always was, coming her way. She couldnt help but smile, thinking that not that much has changed over the past year.

„Huh? Flame brain isnt with you?" he looked surprised that his rival wasnt with Lucy, especially on such occasion as a fight with dark guild. Lucys mood dropped a little, and she allowed herself to wear sad smile, swearing she heard words „Love Rival" somewhere along, Lucy wanted to answer soon, though it took her mouth a while to stop just opening and closing without real reason till finally a sound came.

„No, Natsu left a letter that he was leaving right after Tartaros happened, I bet he doesnt even know the guild got disbanded yet."

„What?! That bastard…!"

„Calm down Gray, after all he saw Igneel die right before him, not being able to do anything, I think on his place I would want to get stronger also." Lucy reasoned.

Gray just scoffed and made his way to Gajeel and Erza, being surprised that its the _real_ Gajeel which is actually member of the Council, causing Levy to be mad just a little, accidentaly he also somehow started a fight with Gajeel, while all others started laughing.

And just for that moment, it seemed like the guild was back, like if the disbandment never happened.

On the way back to Magnolia they all chatted what happened past year, including Juvia bragging to Lucy about how she was living along with her Gray-sama and so on and on and on….

Gray and Gajeel were talking about new moves they learned, while Levy talked, or rather tried to talk with Lucy about random stuff, cause Juvia kept interrupting them with her praises about how Gray mastered his Devil Slaying magic.

And just out of habit, when they arrived in Magnolia, they walked towards the place that theirs guild used to be.

But instead of silence and ruins, they were welcomed with loud cheers…and ruins.

It seemed that the letters Lucy sent before their department reached everyone except S class mages and Natsu, since all were there thanking her and bringing their own ideas on how to rebuild the guild this time. Lucy could just stare at them teary eyed while her hands covered her mouth to hide her sobbing. Erza tried to comfort her by putting her hand on Lucys shoulder, saying that this was Fairy Tail after all, a guild which never gave up, no matter how many times it was brought down.

After promoting Erza as the new guild master, and bribing her with a cake, Doranbolt – or Mest it was now? Whatever. Anyhow, he came to Team Natsu (Without the leader or Happy present of course) and asked for Erza to follow him alone. Of course, it wouldnt be Team Natsu if they ever listened to something someone said, and so, out of curiousity, they followed both Erza and Mest down the stairs, where a secret deep down below the guild was hidden.

After hearing his explanation of why Master disbanded the guild they decided that they will go save him to Alvarez as infiltration mission and fight back, protecting Lumen Histoire no matter what. They will win this war, there was no other option for Fairy Tail than winning.

So on Erzas orders they departed, leaving the rest to rebuild the guild by themselves.

Little did they know that one dragon slayer overheard them.

„Tsk, infiltration mission huh?" he muttered to himself and looked over his shoulder, „Oy shrimp,…"

„Dont call me that!"

„…we are going for that lighting bastard, whatever his name is!"

„Huh?"

* * *

(Meanwhile somewhere in Alvarez Empire)

„Your Highness…" an old man with wooden staff, named Yajeel, came to another man who was standing by the window and wore a black coat.

„…His Majesty wants to talk with you."

„Again?" the man in black coat asked, looking over his shoulder on Yajeel, causing his salmon hair, illuminated by the dawn light, to flutter. „What did Acnologia break this time?"

The older man couldnt help but chuckle. „Its nothing like that this time, or so I hope since I havent heard any complains…" Yajeel trailed off. „Im pretty sure its about _that_ , you know?"

„Oh, Im coming then" the salmon haired boy walked past him and went upstairs to find his brother.

* * *

 **Okay thats the first chapter, please tell me if I should keep going or this is just crappy trash :D**

 **See ya!**


	2. Chapter 2

**OOOH MY GOOD OOH MY GOOD THE EF07 IS READING MY STORY I JUST...GOD OKAY CALM DOWN CALM (FANGIRLING) _Must not fuck up!_**

 **Umm, okay, yea, never mind...no one heard that! (I apologize in advance that I will use some your ideas around Acnologia, like his biggest fear...MUAHAHAHHAA)**

 **Anyhow, thank you guys so much for reviewing! Cause I seriously thought this was real crappy story since yea, there werent any stories about Natsu becoming a part of Alvarez!**

 **So yeah, here is the next chapter! Enjoy!**

 **Also, no Wacko12, Natsu aint Spriggan, cause lets be honest here, THAT would be world catastrophe, Im pretty much sure he would break out a war just cause someone stole Happy fish!** **Term His highness is usually used for royal status, however one that is under king/queen rank, while His Majesty should be exclusively for king/emperor/queen**

 **So in this story I refer to Zeref as Your Majesty since hes the Emperor while to Natsu as Your Highness since I made him a prince, being Zerefs brother and stuff ya know? :D**

* * *

(Somewhere in the seas)

„Ugh…" poor Wendy hang her head over the edge of the boat, trying not to puke. Since the time of her first use of Dragon Force she couldnt handle transportation either, now she finally knew why Natsu wanted her to cast Troia on him each time.

Cause this feeling seriously sucked.

Best thing was, that she couldnt even use the magic on herself anymore once the boat started moving, how funny. Lucy, Erza, Mest and Gray gave her sympathetic looks, but they knew they couldnt help her, Erza just wasnt the type to knock a little girl uncounsciouss.

Neither was anyone else, guess Natsu was just a special case, cause he started fights always with everyone it was way easier to hit him they supposed. Wendy didnt like violence all that much.

For some reason Gray though she would feel better in the boat rooms down below, so he took her there, losing somehow his clothes in the process.

While Lucy pestered him about it in the back of the boat, in front Erza was having her own doubts about what they were going to do. They didnt know what Lumen Histoire was, or why the military empire wanted it so much, which was weird. They had enought power, most probably enought money, for sure enought magic, so what was it that they wanted from Lumen?

Mest suggested it was weapon, while battling Tartaros, Hades said something about _releasing the light_ , but what did that mean? Also, didnt Raven Tail master said it was Fairy Tails darkness? She didnt know, and she noted to herself that she will ask Master later about it, when they found him.

Then again, what if they didnt? Erza knew she mustnt think like that, but closer they were getting, more hope she was losing, and she couldnt figure out why.

„How long untill we reach Alvarez?" Erza changed her look direction from the sea waves around them towards Mest, who started explaining the plan, including their meeting at Caracall Island with their spy from the empire.

* * *

What they didnt expect when they arrived, were ships from Alvarez checking the island for possible spies, controling each arriving boat and their luggage.

Well, here goes problem n. 1.

They changed the look of their guild mark from Fairy Tail to Wendys Cait Shelters one, since they were afraid Fairy Tail was well known for its destruction no matter the continent.

Standing in the queue, Erza made sure Gray behaved, cause if they were to pick any uneccessary fights and were found out, there goes their rescue mission.

When it was finally their turn to be checked, Erza and Lucy put up some „sister act", much to guys and Wendy surprise. However, once the guards noticed they were part of the guild from Ishgar they became cautious, especially when they never heard of such guild before. (Wendy started shedding innocent tears in the background at the revelation that her beloved guild wasnt known, not that it was _such_ a big surprise, but anyway…)

Noticing this, the girls started taking their sister act up to whole new level, showing off their boobs and the most innocent expressions they could muster, sucesfully making the guards flushed, so they just checked their bags and let them go.

„ _Womans power"_ though Mest and Gray, following Lucy and Erza quietly, imagining themselves in the guards situation.

They saw a little shop nearby and immediately they bought few souvenirs.

Gray got ice cream, Wendy with Charla took some juice, Erza ordered a cake, while Lucy just stared at them in disbelief and Mest just laughed it off.

But then, something terrible happened.

A fight has occured between two guards, and one of them ended up on Erzas beloved cake.

Gray tried to calm her down, but with his whole body shivering in fear it didnt work out, and Erza went on rampage. Yea, so much for _not_ picking up uneccessary fights, way to go Erza. Whatever, they were team, so while sending Mest to contact their spy and revealing their real guild marks, they started fighting with the guards, much to everyone elses wonder.

Of course, while beating them up in incoming waves, they always found time to stop by the shop again and buy some new juice or ice cream. They admired the shopkeepers willpower at keeping it open.

But after once certain wave the shop exploded, destroying yet another one of Erzas cake _. „Oh the blood will spill"_ she though and turned around, shouting who the hell dared to damage her precious cake, while Gray handled the man some money to pay for the damages.

Thats when they heard clapping of hands followed with someones laughter.

There goes some weird ass guy in weird clothes towards them, introducing himself as Marin Hollow from one of the Alvarezs forces.

Still mourning over her cake, Erza tries to requip into one of her armors, only to fail miserably. Panicking, she looks confusedly at the opponent who had a satisfying smirk on his face.

„Space is something that belongs to me" he said while chuckling.

Getting angry, Lucy tried to summon one of her spirits, but she too failed.

„Celestial Spirit Magic…thats spacial magic too ya know?"

Both girls started to loose their patience at their inability to fight.

„Oh, and I forgot to mention,…" the strange man started saying, while both girls started dissappearing for some reason. After few seconds they vanished right before Wendy and Gray.

„Where did you take them you bastard?!" Gray started loosing his patience also, and got into his Ice Make position, while for some reason the Marin guy got angry and suddenly had seriously scary expression on his face.

„You failed,…" Marin chuckled while he snapped his fingers and beaten up Mest appeared before them. „Spacial Magic is not for men to use!"

Even though knowing the situation, Gray with Wendy sweatdropped at his sentence.

Gray tried to fight him but being slow with Creation magic and Marin appearing and dissappearing out of nowhere each second he stood no chance.

„How long are you gonna play around Marin?" a woman voice echoed through the battlefield.

„Oh, lady Brandish, how nice seeing you here!" Marin laughed nervously, while the woman, now known as Brandish, looked at him with disgust.

But that wasnt their main problem.

Cause Gray noticed just how much freaking magic power she held, and it didnt look even tiny bit good for them.

But she just passed by him, wanting the same cake Erza had, however when she noticed that her favourite shop has been devastated, she stared teary eyed at them along with Marin, asking what happened here.

Needless to say, Gray and Marin pointed their fingers on each other accusingly.

Completely shocked, Brandish started leaving, while Marin just complained about the fight and the spies to her, which was for the poor woman like irking already provoked nest of bees apparently. Huge magical power gathered around her, and soon everyone on the island were swimming in the cold water while she was standing on some small cliff.

„I wanna go home, dont make me repeat it" Brandish threatened Marin, which immediately returned the two girls and started taking off along with her again.

„Hey! Wait I said!" Gray shouted at their back, not getting the situation, like, why were they leaving? They practically could have killed their whole rescue team if they so wished, and they just left them alone?

„Stop" she said, facing towards Gray once more. „Makarov is alive, so you should stop doing uneccessary things,…There is 12 more people in Alvarez with the same power like mine, even better, so dont fight a battle you cant win." She started taking off again but stopped in her tracks for just a second, „Oh, now that I think about it, there is one more person to be afraid of, stronger than any of the 12, though he joined just recently,…I heard he was part of that guild of yours once too." and with that, she finally left along with her comrade on one of Alvarezs boats, leaving our rescue team bewildered, yet relieved that their beloved Master is alright.

Thats until her words about someone from their guild joining the enemy finally sank.

* * *

(Meanwhile in Alvarez with our little grandpa)

Playing one of the card games known well in Alvarez with Yajeel, one old man which made it possible for Makarov to have an appointment with Emperor Spriggan, the ex Fairy Tail master sighed, since he was losing again.

Talking about Alvarezs politics, Makarov was more than surprised that he was allowed to negotiate, let alone that he was heard out and can actually meet someone of such importance.

After a while, a loud cheers were heard from the streets, and looking around, Yajeel saw in a distance His Majesty Spriggan walking towards the palace. Explaining Emperors habit of dissappearing sometimes to Makarov, the third Master finally looked at the bigger and bigger silhouette of a person.

And then he froze in realization when he got even closer.

Walking towards the palace like it was the most normal thing to do, The Black Mage Zeref didnt show any hesitation nor bewilderement when loud cheers were erupting on each of his sides, welcoming him back and calling him His Majesty.

Makarov was surprised he didnt get that heart attack yet, and now he was supposed to meet up with the most evil black mage of them all and negotiate, oh hell he could already see the damn failure, but he couldnt back out now, not when his family was at the stake here.

And so he followed Yajeel to the palace, seeing Zeref already surrounded by some of the Alvarez 12 shields, he bowed down and introduced himself as messenger from Ishgar.

Recognizing him, Zeref called him out, where no one would disturb them.

„Are you Emperor Spriggan?" Makarov asked, in hope that this was just a bad joke, or Zeref had a frigging twin. „Or Zeref?"

„Both" was his instant reply, which Makarov didnt like one bit as his hopes were crushed down.

„For you, I am Zeref,….while for Alvarez Im Spriggan…" he continued, while looking over the edge of the familiar building, looking at the view of most of the town. „…but if I were to choose one, I would say Zeref."

„Its been already 400 years since I decided to build a country,…at first it was just a small country, then it absorbed guilds, and eventually became an Empire."

„To get your hands on Lumen Histoire?"

„There is no need for you to hide it, I know the official name,…a secret magic, superior to even the three great fairy magics,…Fairy Heart"

Makarov looked disturbed at the revelation that Zeref knew about it.

„I take it you are not open to negotiations…?" Zeref finally turned to look towards Makarov with calm smile, which creeped the old man quite a bit.

„Im afraid someone already negotiated with me,…and lets say his offer was interesting."

Makarovs eyes narrowed.

„And I accepted, you dont have to worry about the war anymore, since I called it out, but dont get me wrong."

He suddenly got closer to Fairy Tail ex master and glared dangerously, his eyes turning red.

„Im still after Fairy Heart, and I will take it when the time comes, no matter how ready or not you Fairies are."

„We wont let you have our First Master!" Makarov shouted, finally loosing his patience.

„Hmm? Who said you got a choice?" Zeref smiled, Makarov wanted to throw some retort to him but was grabbed by someone and teleported away before he got a chance to.

* * *

(Okay yeah I skipped the whole part with Angel being a spy and so on but hey, yea the underwater building was nice but it just felt boring to write it without Natsu being Natsu there so I didnt feel like writing it, sorryy! :D)

* * *

Suddenly appearing in middle of unknown forest, you cant blame Makarov for being confused, especially when he saw behind him a beaten up to a pulp Mest who was suddenly shouting at the rest who were circled around him that he saw Zeref there.

Everyone were surprised to say the least, but hey, they got their Master back, and it was time to finally leave home. So with loud cheers they started going towards the point from where Mest could teleport them (after he rested a while) back to Angels underwater palace.

After a while however with a loud shout and a big shadow casted over them they noticed a Blue Pegasus ship flying right above them. Using his last strenght Mest teleported them on the board. And even though Gajeel wasnt the least happy that his Team B wasnt all that much needed, and Laxus, who wasnt either happy since he couldnt show off to his grandpa, Fairy Tail was finally fully back, along with their Master, who was coming home.

Now only if they could find the stupid Fire Dragon Slayer it would be just like old times, cause lets face it, Fairy Tail could never bet he same without him.

* * *

 **Well thats it.**

 **In word it was over 4 pages, now when I look at it here I feel like I wrote something EXTRA SHORT, HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!**

 **Eeh, um, yea, never mind, so tell me your opinion please? Cause my plan from the start was to call out the war and I dont know if that was a good idea for readers or not!**

 **And yea, the story is damn complicated afterwards.**

 **And yea Natsu WILL APPEAR in NEXT chapter!**

 **See ya!**


	3. Finding Natsu part 1

**Author's Notes:**

 **I get to write the first part of this A/N hehehe. [XxXZeusKillerXxX]. I enjoy the way this story is going. And, decided to BETA to fix grammar, while adding more details and stuff. Hope you guys don't mind my intrusion and personal touches to the story, just hope that you enjoy it as much as I do :D. And now to you, OFFICIAL AUTHOR...**

 **Thanks for that Zeus, I am thankful for your help.**

 **Okay! So, I took your advice to heart, and even tho yes I was rushing things up cause we were catching up, im not good with descriptions even normally, so I asked for help here xxxzeuskillerxxx, who kindly accepted being my beta reader.  
**

 **Now, I know I promised a lot in this chapter, but you see, its our first time together so it got some complications and it will take still longer time, lets hope we will get better over time and update in week intervals. This is actually like first 1/4 of the original chapter, but I didnt want to make you wait much longer, still not knowing how long will it take for us to finish the rest of it. Lets just hope its finished by next week and hold zeus thumbs! (Also it would want a wave of applause considering how good this chapter god thanks to him! xD)**

 **So, here it is!**

* * *

Sighing, Lucy and the rest walked through the ruins of a once beautiful and prosperous village. There were broken down houses, their parts scattered around as moss and weeds began to obscure what once stood proudly as the stone church in the middle of the town.

There were scorch marks on the ground, wood, and stone that held up the village before it had been ravaged by what was a known source to the mages. Cracks ran along the ground and several buildings that hadn't fully collapsed.

There was still the thick smell of blood. Red stained several of the structures and bones with rotten flesh dusted the area around. Someone terrible had rampaged through here, later facing against the trio and getting overpowered.

Thinking back to previous, more pleasant thoughts to ease her mind a bit, the Celestial Mage wondered how the rebuilding process was going for Makarov after they dropped him off.

Him and the others left behind were currently busy with the task of rebuilding the guild hall.

With the current easygoing times for Fairy Tail, Team Natsu -save for the person who it's named after- had decided to go through with the effort of finding Natsu after Makarov had announced that Alvarez was no longer a threat.

The Master however, had seemed uneasy when relaying this to them. It was painstakingly obvious that he was hiding some of the facts but they decided not to pry, knowing that the old man always had a good reason to lie to his beloved 'children'.

So, even after all of the obvious poignancy that the current village had gone through, why were the mages here if they obviously weren't complacent with the scenario before them?

The answer was because for their salmon-haired idiot they'd do anything. Thousands of rumors went about of a _Salamander_ appearing here and there around the country.

And, as the mages loved and were so loyal to the salmon-haired idiot, they decided to go and check on every single rumor. No matter how absurd it sounded, though, in their defense, Natsu was practically the definition of absurdity.

However, this was dismally their 25th time following the rumors, only to find it being a disgusting, narcissistic and deplorable person using their beloved guild mate's name in vain.

Though ardently truthful as it may be, Lucy had to admit that without both Gray and Natsu fighting all the time, Erza was a much more aggrandized force of destruction than both of them put together as she wasn't preoccupied keeping the two from going at each other's throats.

Now _that_ was an extremity seeing as the two could effortlessly demolish a whole city just from a simple disagreement.

Pushing onward, the trio passed by the reputed **Seishun no Izumi [Fountain of Youth].** It was said to bring good fortune if one were to toss a coin into its waters.

Sadly, there was currently a large and heavy stone that obviously didn't belong there thrown in the middle of the fountain. Water leaked and ran about through the village grounds around it, going everywhere _except_ the places it was supposed to.

The inhabitants of this less than lively town were hiding away, tucked behind their respective houses, or what _used_ to be houses, watching the mages warily and giving them looks that asked if they were truly leaving, not that they minded such a thing.

Lucy knew finding Natsu wouldn't be easy. Even as a reputable reporter the young woman hadn't been able to find any trace of the destructive mage. This was both unforeseen and aggravating at the same time for the blonde.

Currently, with an angered Erza and a disappointed yet somehow worried -though he wouldn't admit it- Gray, Lucy walked a stride or two ahead as the group walked on for what seemed endlessly in a random direction, hoping to find the nearest _anything_.

Their tents and supplies were lost or destroyed during the fight, and seeing as the villagers wanted them gone, the mages thought moving ahead was a better option. Therefore, leaving resupplying or rest after such an event, out of the question.

After walking for hours through what was one hell of a dark forest, they arrived before a small village. The houses were small, fitting for such a small place. They were made purely of wood, the roofs covered of thick yet brittle straws.

It looked quite calm and abandoned, to the point where it made them uneasy, something had possibly happened to make a place so desolate.

However, contradictory to first thought, as they neared the village, people made their presence known as the villagers approached the group with welcoming smiles.

"Hello, what can we do for you travelers?" asked a woman of short stature, her hair being a light shade of brown and braided into a thick bun.

The others, staying quiet, watched with curious eyes.

"We would like to stay for the night if possible. Our group does not require many commodities, just somewhere to rest." asked Erza hesitantly, the effect from destroying what was left of the previous village in her fight against the criminal finally hitting her.

What a perfect time for such a thing.

The woman looked worried for some reason, though it didn't look as if afraid of Erza destroying the village, _yet_ that is.

"We wouldn't mind your intrusion, but, this village is known for being terrorized by a Treasure Hunting Guild."

Gray's interest perked up at the revelation, the open invitation for another fight in the statement the woman gave.

"Why would Treasure Hunters terrorize such a small village?" asked the curious Ice Mage.

"Nobody knows as of yet. They appear once a month, toying with anyone who dares defy them before taking supplies and then leaving. I suppose they just don't have their own. We've even asked a few guilds to help us, but the mages never return," the villagers all looked distraught at this as if feeling guilty asking for help.

One look at Erza's face and Lucy knew what was coming. She almost felt like slapping Gray across the face for asking, though at the same time she felt worrisome for the villagers.

Lucy sighed as what she predicted happened.

"I see, I am sorry for all that you've gone through. We are actually Fairy Tail members, and in exchange for letting us intrude, we would like to look up and confront this guild. If you would allow us that is."

And there she goes again, the feared Titania entering her excited mode again, Lucy knew she loved fights as much as Gray and Natsu did somewhere deep inside. Behind layers of armor, skin, organs, blood vessels and other things...

Lucy sighed, wondering how much Erza would destroy this time. Perhaps the entire forest, who knows?

The villagers looked reluctant at first, their distraught look coming back, fearing that they might send more mages to their unknown and possible deaths.

But, after a few more words from Erza, her infamous glare, and a lecture about not being such cowards, the poor inhabitants agreed to accept their help.

They were told that the guild had a hideout somewhere deep in the forest. Treasures from all over the world, from riches to magical tomes and information about the past.

A danger to look out for was that the Hunters helped Dark Guilds a lot, usually trading the things they stole with the guilds. Taking these facts into consideration, Erza became even more cautious, her thirst for a fight becoming even more unquenchable.

On the other hand, Gray, daring to say it as the Pyro wasn't here, was fired up. The Ice Mage was even stripping more so than the usual. He had lost his pants while just walking towards their place for the night for what was over the umpteenth time.

People around them eyed the stripper with a mixture of amusement and questioning glances. Though, he received more inappropriate and lustful looks from the girls as some giggled while others ogled and stared.

If the Juvia was here, it sure as hell would end _badly_ for the unfortunate villagers.

Realizing that they'd more than likely get lost in a dark forest deep into the night, Erza decided to call it a day and retreat into her bed. The effects of fighting another poser today finally settling in as she moaned in appreciation of finally being able to rest her body.

"I wish you a good night and hope that tomorrow you will succeed," said the woman, now known as Lala, courtesy of Erza asking, as she bowed down and left the mages to their business.

Noticing a thick smell of sweat and how dirty they felt, both Erza and Lucy got up. They looked around, noticing that there was no shower or bath in their current dwelling.

They walked around a bit outside, noticing a few villagers still up before stopping one and asking where they could find somewhere to bathe. There was indeed a hot spring not too far from the village.

One which Gray couldn't go to because, while Erza wouldn't mind it, Lucy would not like to bathe naked in a hot spring with Gray. No matter how childish he acted, Gray was still her friend and most importantly a boy.

Lucy would feel too embarrassed being naked before him. This left an irritated and grumpy Gray back at the house as he awaited their return.

Lucy was being quite hypocritical in Gray's opinion. Both he and Natsu had seen her naked before, yet she denied such a thing ever happening, claiming to not recall any event.

* * *

"What do you think happened to Natsu this past year?" questioned Lucy suddenly as the question caught Erza out of the blue, stunning her for a second.

Lucy's mind kept wondering, she hadn't known anything of the Pyromaniac. Nothing much other than Igneel and his habit of breaking into her apartment did the mage know about him. In fact, nobody knew much of his past or where he came from.

Did he have a family? Obviously he couldn't have come from a dragon's egg, but, if he did have a family, was he with them currently? If he didn't, then where was the mage currently at?

Lucy's thoughts became dark, pictures of Natsu either killed or being tortured or any other atrocity suddenly plaguing her mind as she pushed those back.

She knew it was less than likely but she couldn't help but be worried and scared for her best friend. Heck, even Gray was noticeably looking less cheerful than usual. It was obvious he missed the Fire Mage as well, _that_ being something to consider.

"I don't know," Erza suddenly interrupted Lucy's thoughts as she started talking, "But, I'm sure Natsu is fine. He can take of himself just fine. What I'm most surprised about is not hearing anything about him destroying towns or anything like that. Do not worry Lucy, he is more than capable of fighting anybody trying to hurt him."

Ezra gained a thoughtful expression before continuing.

"While there are people who'd want him to suffer, it's hard for even us to track him down, I doubt others would have better luck. Not to mention, his house is a dump, I wouldn't be surprised if he's just fishing with Happy while living in a cave where he trains his magic."

Lucy's face lightened up as a smile etched itself onto it.

It was true however, no matter how stupid or reckless Natsu was, he'd never be in real danger. With that reassuring thought, Lucy was able to fall asleep peacefully that night.

At the time, no one ever considered the Pyro would change. They all took him for the lovable and cute idiot that protected the guild no matter what. They would never doubt him, no matter the situation.

* * *

With the sun rising up and out of the horizon, above the trees and seeping through the windows and cracks in the houses, the village started to reignite with life. People were outside, tending to their own business while children ran about, playing with their friends or going somewhere with their parents.

The group had come out and bid a goodbye to the village, assuring them that they'd take out the terrorizing guild and return peace once more to the small area.

Further thanking them for their hospitality, Team Natsu prepared to finish yet another job without their leader. They roamed around through the forest, unsure of how to get back at this point even if they wanted to.

They group was lucky though, considering their directions were simple enough. They just had to walk straight ahead until they reached a river, leading towards a hill that you'd circle around before seeing the entrance to a cave.

Once actually finding the hill, Gray already sensed the presence of the Hunters. He looked over towards his two companions, seeing that they had noticed as well.

He got into a fighting stance, his magic flaring slightly to create ice blades behind him, directing them towards where the ruffling of leaves was heard.

What they hadn't anticipated was around 30 almost naked people with drawn markings running along their bodies. They wore colorful masks with similar patterns, animal leather or feathers hanging loosely from the back of the masks.

They also used animal leather to cover their private parts, some decency still there.

Trying not to underestimate their odd enemies, the mages all launched separate attacks, hoping their usual strategy of destroy everything worked out in their favor.

Except, this is the opposite of what happened. It seems these people were expecting mages after so many failed attempts from before. The group was revealed to consist of Magic-Cancelling and Rune Mages.

Needless to say, without their magic and runes all around them, the Fairy Tail mages stood no real chance without a proper strategy. But, before being able to even think of one, another mage entered the field.

He wore a similar mask to everyone else, though it only covered his eyes instead of the whole face. Grey wolf skin hung loosely on the back of the mask.

Two lines were drawn across his cheeks. One white while the other was red. These were seemingly repeated as they were also drawn across his waist.

The man wore baggy dark grey pants and seemingly from the reaction he was getting from his comrades, this was the leader.

The current new strategy for the mages was to defeat the leader and end this probably lost fight thought the three.

 **'Hyōma Zero no Hakyū!' [Ice Devil's Zeroth Destruction Bow]**

Chanted Gray as he launched an icy arrow at the new person, his comrades leaving the fight to him and disabling their magic.

Ezra had Re-Quipped into her **Kureha no Yoroi** and sent a blade of dark red energy towards the same person.

Lucy had changed into her **Sajitariusu Sutā Doresu [Sagittarius Star-Dress]** , casting **Sutā Shotto [Star Shot]** as a wave of arrows approached the figure.

All three powerful attacks formed into one beam. It tore through the ground, approaching the Leader. However, the man simply waved his _bare_ hand and the attack imploded on itself, becoming completely obliterated.

The mages stood watching in shock as nothing happened and their attacks were effortlessly swiped away by this peculiar figure.

Still standing stunned, they didn't notice a large fireball being sent their way. Ezra was the first one to come out of the stupor, quickly Re-Quipping into her **Entei no Yoroi [Flame Empress Armor]** in an attempt to block the attack.

This only lasted for a split second as it quickly overtook her, engulfing them before they all blacked out.

* * *

 **Well thats it guys! Hope you enjoyed, tho it was kinda shorter than normally planned.**

 **Dear anon, if I told you answer for that I would kinda spoil the story wouldnt I? Besides, instead of _who_ negotiated with zeref, shouldnt you rather worry about what the negotiations were _about_?**

 **...just saying xD**

 **Happy fans, yeaa, he will appear, but thats still many chapters to go I dare to say.**

 **Well, I hope I can present you the rest of this chapter till end of next week, so be patient please :)**

 **Make sure to cheer zeus on!**

 **See ya next time!**


	4. Finding Natsu part 2

**Hey! Sorry I took so long but I had kinda problem, not to mention zeus got too busy and couldnt beta anymore, so it took a while to get the chapter done with my horrible writing skills, but I tried my hardest to do some description, if its still not alright you can just tell me in the comments and I will try harder!**

 **As for the pairing, Its definitely not gonna be NatsuxBrandish, yea sorry about that, but the damn girl confuses me and I cant make out her character at all, and probably wouldnt be able to write her much.**

 **NatsuxLissana wouldnt make sense at this point, and even though at first I was a fan of Nalu there is just too many of it now and making Natsu such asshole that im sick of it and I seriously began to despise Nalu more than anything.**

 **NatsuxErza...hmm...I will think about that one, but I do not promise anything as they dont have enought interactions, the main reason I wanted this to make Gratsu at first was because they had the most interactions in this story but I was rejected on that by you guys so no gratsu :/**

 **I actually wonder if I will even pair Natsu up with someone, since gratsu was rejected I suppose its either erza or no one, I will see how the story unfolds xD**

 **Well right now Im writing alone again, but I take it okay, since the updates should be way sooner now, and at least I could practice my writing skills, which according to zeus were terrible :D**

 **oh and lord Rikudou, gratsu aint half fan base, half fan base is nalu :D gratsu is actually very slim, and the really good stories are even slimmer.**

 **Daygon, I aint gonna tell ya ya know? you gotta read and read untill the story tells ya! Maybe when Happy appears you could bribe him with a fish but Im not saying its gonna work 100% :D**

 **Well, as I said, sorry for any of the mistakes, if ya wanna more detailed description just lemme know in the comments, And thats all I suppose, so onto the actual story!**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

The first thing Gray registered when he finally came to, was the moistness and heaviness of the air. His body felt like it was ran over thousand times and his arms felt stiff. Even though his eyelids felt heavy, he managed to open them after few tries. It took a while to adjust to the darkness in the room, but when Gray finally did, he noticed metal bars before him and heard a strangling sound to his right. Looking towards it, he noticed that the girls were in similar situation with their hands handcuffed above their heads to the wall.

Events of what happened before they passed out came back to him and he cursed himself for letting one guy beat their whole team with single strike. Kidnapped by dark guild, Gray chuckled to himself. Well, at least instead of hanging up on the wall as he always though they would if they ever got caught they were sitting.

Ending up in a rotten cell wasnt exactly as Gray envisioned his searching for – he could swear – the only existing pink haired idiot in whole world. But he was sure none of the girls did too. He glanced their way once more, checking if they were alright, which more or less proved right. Just few bruises here and there, along with the almost hangover-like feeling.

He tried to concetrate his magic into his hands, so he could break the cuffs, but to no avail. Looks like those were magic- canceling cuffs, dammit, his day just couldnt get better. Looks like this guild was prepared for mages coming their way, which he should probably deduce from the villagers fears for the previous mages which passed there and tried to help.

Mentioning that, Gray looked around, if there were more mages trying to stop the guild, they should be in cells in here somewhere too, right? But looking around, Gray saw no one except them and member of dark guild standing right before the metal bars Gray noticed earlier. Seriously, with these type of clothing, it wasnt hard to extinguish them from even far away, and he thought, that must have put them to big disadvantage before right? How come he never heard of such guild before?

Putting that aside, the guard, which was standing before their cell was nowhere to be seen, and Gray started to look around and think of escape plan, quickly glancing towards Erza and meeting her gaze, she seemed to think the same. He tried to mention something which could help them maybe, but before he could even open his mouth, the guard came back with few of his friends coming their way and Gray braced for the worst.

He started to panic when he saw them shuffling with keys and slowly opening their cell doors, slowly making their way towards each one of them. He was prepared to fight nails and teeth, but noticing the painted member which took them out with swing of his hand, he knew they had no chance of winning, at least not without their magic.

If he wasnt in this kind of situation, he would have laughed at the ridiculous outfits into their faces, but he was pretty sure he would get serious kick in stomach for that and he didnt feel like getting beaten up right of the bat. Noticing that the rest of the team quietly followed the guards to the stairs which were somehow hidden in corner next to the cell they were in and lead up, he putted still some resistence, showing his discomfort, but still not much so he wouldnt get knocked uncousniouss and towed to their destination.

Going up, there were no more rooms, just one very big hall, which had red carpet with golden strings at sides and lead from the stairs towards single empty chair at the end of the hall. It was followed by stone pillars around it, and between them individuall members of the guild, standing and watching their teams every move, ready to strike if neccessary. Looking up, the ceiling was high up and made of stone, they were probably in some kind of cave in the hill, just one hit with their combined magic to the damn ceiling and Gray was sure it would collapse. Sadly, he couldnt do such thing right now, so he followed the guards to the chair at the end of the hall. Was this supposed to resemble a throne room or something? Some cocky boss they had.

Suddenly, a wall behind the chair dissappeared, revealing a black haired half naked muscular man which sat at the chair. He had normal black pants on him and all kinds of golden chains around his neck. Gray supposed that this was the cocky boss.

The painted guy moved from their place next to the chair, as if to look like bodyguard, which he probably was. Gray wondered, the boss didnt look all that strong, and all the mages here were rune mages or magic canceling mages, quite good combination, but it looks like the painted man was the only attack mage they had. In his time in Avatar, the stronger always acted above the weaker, how come this painted guy didnt try to take the „throne"? Dark guilds were always around power, he had enought of it, why wasnt he demanding better position?

Well, whatever, he never found any logic behind those guilds, even when he was in one, so why try to find it now?

„Well, well, what do we have here? Again some stupid mages from that stupid village trying to get rid of us? Che! As if that would work! Right, Flame?" the master of the guild – Gray assumed, as he was practically sitting as a king- directed his gaze towards the mage beside him as he finished his question, hoping to get some scary response from him, but so called Flame just nodded, looking bored and like he was hoping that this would just get on and over with quickly.

„Im really tired of them trying to ask for help, I mean really? This time Fairy Tail?" Flame seemed to flinch at the guild name for some reason. „Its time I show them what happens if they defy me!" the master suddenly had sadistic smile on his face. „I will just kill you and send your heads to them in order for them to finally understand!"

Yet, even tho he said that _he_ will be the one to kill them, he motioned for Flame to do it, who just hesitantly nodded. Guess he didnt like killing all that much, why joining a dark guild then? That train of Grays though was however interrupted as Flame was getting closer and the guards behind him brought him to his knees, along with the girls.

Panic started to raise within Gray, as he though desperately for an escape plan, but with each step Flame took closer his mind was getting slowly shut, wondering if this was how his miserable life was going to end.

He couldnt avenge his family, he couldnt defeat E.N.D, he didnt even find Zeref or the damn book, he didnt even finish studying all of Ice Devil Slayer magic, and now he was supposed to watch as members of his new family were getting killed before him again? The hell logic was that? He had so much to do, so much he _wanted_ to do, this _cant_ be the end.

Flame was now towering over him, Gray was at least relieved that he will be the one going first, and doesnt have to look on how Erza with Lucy ends. It was kinda selfish thought, but he couldnt help it, he closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable, regretting he probably missed the only chance he ever got to see Erzas worried face for him, instead of the rage she always shown when he was fighting with Natsu, or pulled prank on her with Natsu when they were kids. Natsu would probably kick him in the ass if he saw him surrendering like this, but there was nothing he could do. His body felt heavy, his magic was sucked up by the cuffs, and even if he did try to fight back this guy was already too close to be able to dodge the hit, and he couldnt help Erza or Lucy either. Hearing Lucy scream his name, he just let it happen.

Instead he heard a sight above him and something heavy fell off of his hands, making a cling sound as it fell to the floor. He didnt even have time to react as huge earthquake began to take place, shaking everything around, few members already fled as the pillars they were standing near began to crumble, and stones started to fall off the ceiling.

Then Gray no longer felt the boy´s presence and instead felt something warm flying past him. Daring to open his eyes, he noticed the guards were no longer beside them, and all of the team was uncuffed. Instead, the guild members seemed to fight with some fire creature, which, as Gray focused his sight on it, made out a shape of bird. It was spilling fire from its beak aimlessly. Gray had no idea what was going on, but one glance at Erza and Lucy was enough to tell him this was their chance to escape, and so they fought together once again.

No one noticed one member dissappearing behind the hidden wall which the guild master previously emerged from.

* * *

Flame didnt think he was _that_ unlucky, he finally found the item he was looking for after all the months of tracking it down, and after going throught all the fucking trouble for infiltration – since he was afraid to brerak the item if he stormed the place – another wave of mages just had to come and ruin his efforts. And this time he couldnt save them with mere words, or sneaking into a cell at night and free them. Just fan-fucking-tastic.

He knew he didnt have much time, cause first things villains always do in stories when they start loosing, is to check whether his precious treasure is alright. He ran down the stairs behind the hidden wall. Getting down, he appeared in similar room as was the room with the chair, except instead of chair, piles of shining gold, jewels and ancient relics were taking place. He ran towards it, digging in the piles, searching for one particular item.

It felt like forever with his cursing and constant trashing until he finally spotted what he came for. Victorious smirk made way onto his face, as he withdrew his hand, now holding a pure, white crystal, which shone imcomparably. He lifted the grey wolf leather hanging from his mask, only to reveal a secret pocket, and he shoved the crystal in there, adjusting the mask so it wouldnt look suspicious and the crystal wouldnt fall off.

Hearing footsteps with his enchanced senses, he started panicking and desperately searched for a hiding place, but there was none, the pillars were too thin to be able to hide behind them. He didnt want to be caught, as last resort he climbed up on top of one of the pillars, hoping the saying that people never look up when they play hide and seek wasnt overrated. Looking down, he saw the guild master running below him towards his treasure with bags, trxing to stuff everything he could into them. Flame decided this was the best time for escape and so he carefully slid down the pillar and ran up the stairs, sucesfully being stealthy.

* * *

Gray was really tired, the magic canceling cuffs took out of him more than he would like to admit, and the heavy feeling from being hit by that fireball didnt help his situation one bit, unfortunately Lucy and Erza were in the same state and while the fire creature looked unfazed, Gray was still unsure what was its goal or if he could even trust it. He felt like he was ready to fall uncousniouss onto the floor as the battle repeated, rune mages trying to trap them, magic canceling mages making their magic useless, he could almost see this battle having the same result as the one yesterday, or was it just few hours? Gray didnt know, there wasnt real way how to tell exact hour deep in the cave.

Trying to look for escape route, he noticed Flame running towards him from direction of where the chair was. Gray got ready into his fighting stance.

„Ice Make: - „ but Flame just passed by him, throwing Gray into state of shock, and climbed on top of the bird, when Gray turned to face him he saw outstretched hand motioning towards him. He hesitated, but Erza and Lucy were already climbing atop of the bird, knowing they would loose this battle in their state, and were pretty sure that this time they _would_ get killed. Considering the fact that Gray didnt want to end up in the rotten cell again, he took that hand and let himself be pushed up at the top of the creature. When he sat behind Flame, he immediately felt the bonding magic the bird had attached to him, as to make no one fall. It reassured Gray a little, but he was still unsure about the guy. However, thinking about it, the fire bird _did_ look like it belonged to Flame, and it helped them, not to mention that even though he had the chance, and for sure enought time, when he was told to, Flame didnt kill Gray, instead Gray felt his cuffs being removed.

Looking at the mess around him, Gray decided he will ask questions later, when they were somewhere safe, while Flame made a hole in the ceiling with his –somehow familiar- fire magic and the creature they were sitting on turned towards it, unfolding its wings and flying through it, leaving the cave, which was falling apart each second by the strong impact of Flames magic with the ceiling.

When they were high up in the air, Erza was the one who decided to break the icy silence and ask _the question_ , hoping to realize what the hell just happened in there.

„Who are you, and why did you help us, instead of helping your comrades?" she asked in enraged tone, always getting angry about dark guilds not having any bonds between the members.

„I _was_ helping my comrades" he said with determined tone, and they were surprised on how that tone sounded familiar, but couldnt quite place it. He turned around suddenly, removing his mask slowly, and the whole team gasped at the sight of the very reason of this whole commotion right before them.

He still had his short spiky pink hair, though they were quite messed up from wearing the mask all the time, and they heard him chuckle at their surprised faces, with their mouths hanging open.

„Hey, long time no see!" Natsu shouted, with his usual big toothy grin.

* * *

Safely landing on earth somewhere in middle of forest, but they could still see the train station in their sight, in far distance from the now probably caved in guild. Once they were standing on ground, the bird dissipated into thin air and they finally got over their shock and noticed the lack of Fairy Tail guild mark on Natsus right shoulder, however, thinking it was probably part of the infiltration as they did change their marks while trying to save Master, no one mentioned it.

„What happened to you? Why were you there?" Lucy started asking, entirely confused that _both_ of her best idiotic friends in past year were members of dark guild – and probably gonna argue on whos original idea it was- and their reasons.

…

Okay, she could understand Grays reason, what was Natsus?

Natsu was looking at her with empty expression at first, which surprised them all, as they never seen anything like that on his face, but after a while he sighed, probably making up his mind and reached down to the grey leather hanging from his mask to take something from it and shove it into their faces. Concentrating their sight on it, it was diamond shaped white crystal which shone quite amazingly.

„I was there for this,…" noticing their confuse expressions, Natsu decided to explain. „…its called Soleans Gemstone and it can remove and destroy curse from an item, they were quite common long ago but since they got only one use and no one can make them anymore as there are no records, this is the last of its kind. I didnt want to break it while fighting with magic canceling mages which would be quite a pain, I had no choice but to sneak in there! Thanks for ruining that by the way, thou Im just so awesome that I managed!" he finished telling his story with proud smile on his face, hoping it explained enough without telling them too many details.

Like why he needed it anyway.

But they just looked at him as if he was the strangest person on planet Earth, however after getting over the shock they jsut bursted out laughing, leaving utterly confused Natsu before them, before they –yes even Gray- hugged him, tackling Natsu into the ground. He didnt expect them to miss him so much, and as much as he wanted to go back and at least say hi, he couldnt, there was just too much to be done and to understand for him, along with the major changes in his life.

Well, he supposed that Fairy Tail would never leave any of its members on their own, and that thought made him smile all the more, but then something from the back of his mind came forward and the smile fell, and at that moment, he didnt believe his own words.

Leaving that for later, all of them were tired from the fight,as Natsu was finally content with not having to conceal himself or listen to someone else. Letting Natsu lead the way, to what they believed was train station back home, they told him their stories about what happened to them in the past year. Natsu almost lashed out at the mentioning that the guild got disbanded, but somehow calmed down when he heard its back again, but he made sure to kick gramps in the ass later on for that.

He wasnt surprised when Lucy told him about her journalistic work, knowing she always loved to write, but what surprised him was that Gray was _also_ member of dark guild, and started to tease him about it. It ended in a fight between them arguing over whos idea and reason was better, but this time Erza didnt stop them, convincing surprised Lucy that this was just another way of them catching up.

But Erza was surprised when Natsu didnt protest about taking the train this time and wondered what could have caused that. Well, maybe he was just too happy to see them and soon to see the guild that he forgot about it. How nostalgic would that be?

* * *

Arriving at the busy train station, Natsu ran off to somewhere, finally deciding to get rid of the ridiculous dark guild outfit, and change into some normal clothes, since they were getting curious and suggestive stares towards them once they came close to civilization.

However when he came back, his usual vest was replaced with black coat without sleeves, reaching all the way down to his ankles with no shirt underneath and baggy white dirty pants, which were a little _too_ down with sash wrapped around them, as they were practically hanging from him. Actually he didnt look much better than he did before. His always present muffler was carefully wrapped around his neck and hugged by collar of the coat. And to the sash was attached wooden black scabbage with what appeared as very thin sword. Over his right shoulder he had his fake sleeve from his previous outfit.

Although Gray wanted to mention the ridiculousness of the new outfit, he was glad to have Natsu back for once, and instead decided to embarass him about it before whole guild once they got home.

Slowly getting on the train, now even Lucy and Gray were astounded that Natsu didnt complain about getting on. Watching him carefully, Gray noticed that the pink haired idiot took something out of his pocket and swallowed it. He wanted to comment on it but was interrupted as Erza shouted on the rest of their group that she found empty cabin in the train where they could sit and talk without anyone overhearing them, unless they were trying to. He didnt mention it further, recalling that Natsus stomach was endless pit, and that probably supposed to be something like a light snack so he wouldnt throw it up right after once the train started moving.

Neither of them had any luggage to attend to as Natsu ran away from the guild with nothing but that magical item and barely some clothes, and the rest lost their belongings already when they fought the fake Salamander and then again when they were attacked by the dark guild.

They were all surprised when the train started moving and Natsu _didnt_ react _at all_ , he was just sitting calmly next to Gray looking out of the window.

„What happened to your motion sickness?" Erza, which sat across of him asked, she was worried at first that she would have to knock Natsu uncousniouss at their happy reunion after whole year, but was shocked seeing him all calm about it.

„Oh!" suddenly Natsus face lit up, with his usual grin present on his face. „Remember the mission we took with Luce to find that Hakobe Ice, which I ate afterwards -so we could get away from the monster- to cure my motion sickness?" they nodded dumbly, still not getting it „Well, my brother is really smart and when he found out about it he told me to bring him some and after few tries and experiments he made pills with longer lasting effect which can cure me just like Troia but their effect doesnt weaken after using again and again at all!" he said excitedly, showing them glass bottle from his pocket filled with blue round pills. Their mouth made ´o´ shape, looking quite bewildered that they wont have to put up with his throwing up anymore.

Thats when the information hit.

„You got a brother?" Lucy asked, imagining older, sexier Natsu version which wasnt as destructive force.

Natsu seemed to freeze at her question. „Yea…" he hesitantly answered.

„Thats awesome Natsu! Why you never told us? Whats his name?"

„Z-„ Natsu stopped himself, „Umm,…well I didnt know myself until recently,…" he though how he should continue without getting into trouble, and tried to change his expression from shocked to confused one as he scratched the back of his head, hopefully looking clueless „…and his name…his name…" looking as if he was thinking, he finally answered „I forgot!" he claimed, almost too proud of himself, on which the rest of the group sweatdropped.

Natsu was glad he was so oblivious most of the times that his friends werent surprised at it anymore.

„Seriously flame-brain? Are you _that_ dumb?" headbutting with Natsu, Gray started yet another bickering between two opposite mages.

It ended sooner than expected, as they were all tired and falling asleep, the girls somehow fell asleep during their bickering –which Gray will never understand- and Natsu seemed to be dozing off already, resting his head against the window.

And for some reason, Gray recalled what happened when they arrived with Master at the guild.

* * *

 _Arriving at the construction, which is gonna be their guild soon, as it needed only few more final touches (like roof and walls), the Rescue Team bid goodbye to Blue Pegasus, as the ship running on magic flew off, towards the shore._

 _They were welcomed by loud cheers, and even though the guild wasnt finished yet, they threw the party in all of the dusty mess around the few wooden pillars for return of their beloved guild master, who was in tears knowing there was no better family than Fairy Tail._

 _However, after the party Team A decided to enlighten him with the sad and teriffying information about the traitor from guild which Brandish mentioned earlier in Alvarez._

 _He wasnt a bit pleased to say it gently, and his forehead was full of wrinkles, whether from worry or anger they wont know. They were quite surprised he didnt storm the place, denying that his children would never do such thing._

 _Looking around, he called out only Erza, Gray and Lucy, who announced that they will go and look for Natsu, and told them to follow him, until they were safely out of sight or (even for dragon slayers) hearing range. They gave him questioning looks at first, but followed anyway, until Makarov suddenly stopped, making Gray almost trip over him._

„ _The only ones missing are Gildarts and Natsu, there is no one else who could it be if the information is correct." They looked surprised, none of them, not even Gramps could imagine those two to ever betray their family, especially Natsu, since he was the one who saved its ass most of the time, or fought hard for its honour. „Im afraid if what you are saying is true, it needs to be one of those two, so I would ask of you to be cautious while approaching him once you find him –if you find him." He sighed. „Not to mention, when I went to negotiate with Spriggan – well – Zeref, he told me someone already did that before me, and thats the reason the war got cancelled, I can only hope it was the same person and their intentions are pure, but we can never be sure about this traitorous act." He turned towards them with worried, yet determined look on his face. „You shouldnt let your guard down, no matter how kind Natsu is- or was, its easy to fall into pit of darkness while people are drowned in despair" he finished his speech while walking away, leaving shocked rest of Natsus team behind, leaving them to sort this out on their own._

 _Its not like he could help them._

 _There was no way in hell they could imagine Natsu would have ever done that, but then again, if it was Gildarts, it could be hundred times worse._

* * *

Remembering that event., Gray couldnt help but to look skeptically at his friend, now sleeping next to him. He couldnt believe that Natsu out of all people would betray them, he was too kind, innocent and naive for that, not to mention oblivious, loud, unable to keep a secret (okay, that proved kinda wrong when he actually managed to hold on a real infiltration mission but still,…) and he loved Fairy Tail more than anyone else.

It was his only family except Igneel, and now, his newfound brother.

The traitor was supposed to be stronger than any of the 12 Alvarez Shields right? So, Gray made up his mind.

It had to be Gildarts.

.

.

.

.

Right?

* * *

 **Here ya go! How was it? tell me tell me cause its kinda fuel to keep writer going ya know?**

 **So see ya in next chappie!**

 **Alaeriii! ;)**


	5. Coming Home

**Okay, so first, Im sorry for the short chapter, but I realized that if I wanna end with the words I wanna end of the -now next one- chapter, it was way too long for my concentration to keep it up.**

 **But I can promise that the next update will be till Sunday midnight, as (you probably wont believe) all of these chapters were written somewhen between 0:00 - 4:00 am :D**

 **Maybe im that type that can write at night only...who knows :D**

 **Another thing, I decided to continue with this story as being Gratsu**

 **and those are my reasons:**

 **1) I realized the only thing that would change when I abandoned the pairing was whether they would kiss at the end or not.**

 **2) I really tried to write Erza at first, but then I found out I needed someone calm and confident in relati** **onship, and Erza is a shy person when it comes to acting and Jellal (which is practically cannon xD).**

 **That left Sayla and Brandish from your suggestions.**

 **Brandish...well...I did try to play it in my mind, but somehow it always ended in Master/Slave relationship (guess who was who xD)**

 **Dont ask me how I came up with that idea :D I HELL DONT KNOW XD**

 **Sayla? As far as I know her and the rest of Tartaros are dead. Or so I assume since they were not mentioned again (Except Mira's Take Over)**

 **So...sorry, no.**

 **3) Zeus stopped beta reading, so it was safe to write it, plus it makes the story more enjoyable, you will see.**

 **4) Its really fitting once you will read chapter 6**

 **5) Its not a reason to stop reading this story, as I got my friend, who _despises_ yaoi read some scenes, and she gave me a green light. (cause honestly, I cant write suggestive things or lemons, for me yaoi means more like fluff shounen ai ya know?)**

 **She also scolded me for not doing the "it's" things instead of "its" :D**

 **It was faster to write without it, but I guess it does belong to one of the grammar mistakes you people mentioned uh?**

 **Not to mention romance is just a side thing in this story, which plays part just at the last chapter.**

 **I also wanted to apologize to people like Gersus, whom I gave hope of their favourite ship,, trust me, I DID try, but it didnt fit :/**

* * *

No matter how many times Natsu have seen it, he will never get used to the guild turning from pieces of wood, burned cloth and dust to such marvelous building, which looked like small castle.

Going through the first gate already got Natsu excited enough, and towards the main doors he was practically bouncing, much to enjoyment of his fellow teammates.

He glanced back at Erza, asking silent permission, who just nodded with amusement still present on her face.

Natsu ignored how Gray was smirking at him and how Lucy held her thumbs in excitement as he was about to do something they all missed

They are sure gonna regret it sooner or later, but that was for another time.

And so, Natsu kicked the main door open, opening his mouth to shout something and preparing himself for the endless questions his guildmates were most probably to give him.

Nothing could brace him for what happened, well at least not what he would expect.

Before he could even utter one single word his face was met with harshly thrown table, and he was _not_ amused at that.

I think it's not needed to say it ended up with an all guild brawl, which unfortunately had to end quickly as Master was sending his fists here and there at his stupid children, reminding them they just finished rebuilding the guild, and forbid all fights for the rest of the day, much to Natsu's and Gray's dismay.

One look from Master and they just grumbled and went towards table where they usually sat before Tartaros and discussed random things.

Their friends, Erza and Lucy, were already waiting at them, sitting there with few drinks with inviting smiles, glad that their team was now officially back, as they found the leader again.

Thought one thing –or rather, a person- was still missing.

While sitting down, Natsu eyed those drinks suspiciously, as he felt his hair at the back of his neck getting electrified the whole time he was in the guild, but he shrugged it off, assuming it was either Gajeel or Gray thinking about plan how to get him in a fight the very next day.

Ha! As if!

"I didn't mention it before, because you were in disguise, and I believed you had just meeting point somewhere, but where is Happy?" he somehow registered Erza ask.

That didn't mean he heard her at her first try, so he turned towards her, tilting his head to one side dumbly, and asked: "What?"

 _That_ …was a mistake.

As soon as the word left his mouth, he felt himself being pushed from the wooden bench onto the cold floor and something _very_ cold and _very_ sharp was pointed at his neck.

"Did you not listen to me?!"

He gulped."N-No, I mean yes, but I was uhm-" Would it be weird for him to say he was thinking? Yea, _definitely_. If he would say he was in his own world Erza wouldn't stop asking him about it or called him a pervert –immediately assuming the worst-, which hey, he wasn't, that was Ice bastard's work to be perv.

Then again, if he said he imagined how he is gonna beat up Popsicle pants, after that bastard would challenge him into fight, believing it's gonna be his win while Natsu would emerge victorious,… _that_ would make just others tease him about it that he _had to_ imagine it, as if he himself didn't believe it could happen.

Which he knew it could, especially now, Ice Devil Slayer or not.

Wasn't he thinking about it too hard? That wasn't his style,…

How much more did he change?

"Well?" Erza demanded.

Seems he was taking too long too, and you do _not_ want to take too long when Erza is _demanding_.

Unconsciously, he began crawling backwards slowly. "I-uh…"

Suddenly he saw hope. Yes! Idea!

"I was just thinking about Happy, ya know? I miss him, he stayed with friend of my brother, saying fishing was more fun than some stupid infiltration mission in guild which dressed like monkeys!" Natsu reminded himself of that moment, as he tried to convince his little feline friend to go with him only to be declined almost immediately, he pouted at the memory. He was still pissed off about that and made sure to play some prank on Happy as soon as he came back – for revenge.

Unbeknownst to him, he raised his fist in the air and nodded his head in determination over his silent self-promise, making everyone from his team look at him weirdly while sweatdropping. But he just gave them curious stare, completely unaware of the analyzing look he was too accustomed to by now to feel at the back of his neck.

He started to panic unwillingly when Erza started coming closer to him, so he closed his eyes, bracing himself for one of her heavy blows.

Instead, he felt his hair being tugged at and his head came into contact with something hard, giving him slight headache.

"I see" Erza tried to comfort him? Oh no.

Was he doomed already?

"It's-" he tried to say it's fine, but was interrupted when Lucy came over, having overheard the conversation.

"How long are you staying then? I can't imagine you two being apart for long" she smiled, but you could see she wasn't happy that Natsu hinted that he won't stay.

"Luce-" he tried again.

"Are you going to leave again?" asked Erza, finally having unsheathed her sword.

Natsu focused on the floor, suddenly finding it very interesting, but after a while he nodded slowly.

After all, he made his choice already way back, when he made _that_ promise to his brother.

Gray was still sitting at the table they were drinking happily a few moments ago, his back facing them and his dark bangs covering his eyes, clutching the drink towards his body and having grip on it that was _a bit too_ strong.

It was quite obvious he didn't like the news either.

Minutes passed, and the tension in the air started rising.

"Then,…" he finally turned around, breaking the silence along with the tension, getting successfully their attention. "…how about we go on a mission together as a team again, before you leave?" he finished, his eyes focused solely on Natsu with intense stare.

Natsu beamed at that and shook his head vigorously, smiling at the thought of having a chance to have fun with his friends for one last time.

"Let's go choose then!" shouted Lucy, while running towards the Request Board, being followed by Erza and Gray.

Natsu was watching them for few seconds, before he finally stood up from his place where Erza had previously thrown him, and showed them his big toothy grin. "You choose for me too, I still got some things to finish, plus my house is probably falling apart by now". His team was rather surprised that Natsu didn't want to come choose with them to say the least, but they nodded in understandment at the mention of his house, and let him run away from guild with a wave of his hand and "See ya later!".

It's not like they could change his mind once he decided about something with that stubborn head of his. Instead they looked at each other with mischief in their eyes, as they tried to find some mission that Natsu _definitely_ won't like.

You know, as a punishment he let them choose it on their own.

Yep, _big_ mistake.

* * *

Natsu ran and ran through the thick, greenish forest, in which his modest house was located.

Only, he didn't run towards it, he ran away from it, far away from it actually, and far away from town, or anything _living_.

Yet he still wanted to be covered by the crowns of leafs, which only trees could afford to give him.

When he finally reached a destination somewhere deep within it, where he could sense nothing and no one near him, fitting that way to his requirements, he sighted and took out from his pocket the Solean's Gemstone from earlier, that he was searching for so long.

 _He couldn't screw up now_.

Slowly and carefully, he put it onto the green glass, holding it down with his bare foot and brought his left hand onto the sword-hilt, while breathing heavily.

He closed his eyes in concentration, and started unsheathing the sword.

Once he did that, he didn't have to open his eyes to know that everything around him –be it a plant or animal- has started dying. He could just hope there wasn't anyone nearby, but he checked not so long ago, so there shouldn't be anyone else besides him.

But that didn't change the fact that he should hurry this up.

He opened his eyes, focusing on the Gemstone and held the sword out above his head.

There was no other chance to do this, nor could he practice it or learn it anywhere. If he failed to do this and didn't penetrate into the crystal enough he won't be able to do it again.

Then again, he mustn't stab too deep or he will cut it in half – which would ruin it's ability.

He wouldn't be able to keep the promise he made if either happened.

And suddenly, he started to doubt himself, he knew there was no time to do that, if he hesitated for too long, someone could come closer and die 'cause of his incapability, but he couldn't help the cold sweat that started making it's way across his forehead.

He gritted his teeth, and out of frustration from himself, he bit his lip to calm down.

Sometimes he hated his sharp teeth, as he bit too hard, but it worked at least to shove away his doubts, but didn't stop his hands from shaking. He could deal with that now thought, as he got his own confidence back.

Natsu released breath he didn't realize he was holding, and pierced the white crystal.

Almost instantly, he was blinded by sharp, white light emitting from the place where the blade and surface of the crystal met.

Being the stubborn fool he was, he needed to know if it was working, and whether it hurt or not, he refused to let his sight go off the blade for even second, which started changing it's color from pure black back to normal metal-like one.

After a while the light disappeared, leaving bewildered Natsu behind. The Gemstone which he held with his bare foot was now black and started cracking, until it turned into dust, which soon disappeared with next wave of the wind.

Inspecting the sword, it looked exactly as it did before he made it swallow his brother's Ankhseram's curse, but one can never be so sure, so he left the sword unsheathed and went a little further into forest, out of range of the previous disaster, to somewhere where some plants were still growing.

And to his sheer joy, when he put the blade near one of the blooms, it still stayed the same.

It was still alive.

He cracked into fits of laughter, as he was overjoyed, not caring he fell to the floor and his stomach hurt from laughing so much.

This way he could keep his promise.

This way, she could be saved too.

After he calmed down he was still laying silently onto the floor, just watching the sky, but after few moments passed he blew fire into his hand, which formed into fire bird, just like the one he escaped on from the dark guild, only this time much tinier.

"Tell him that first part of the plan was successful." Natsu ordered it, and it flew off to the sky, he continued staring after the bird until it completely disappeared from his sight, and then decided to get ready for whatever mission his team chose for them to go on.

He didn't expect it to be easy one, nor fun one as he recognized the mischievous looks on his friend faces as he was leaving the guild before.

* * *

 **Shinnypichu88 - I agree that there are some very good Nalu stories, but heck I found like three because its ALWAYS the same plot.**

 **Either Lucy becoming OP or Natsu becoming a total jerk.**

 **Seriously, what. the. fuck.**

 **Their relationship in manga and anime is based on Lucy relying on Natsu, her becoming OP severes that ultimately. (remember battle with Hades demons?)**

 **Natsu kicking her and ignoring her for Lisanna? Really? Like, really? I understand that when we authors write fanfictions we always write a bit OOC characters, cause we arent Hiro Mashima, but really? The Lovable Natsu doing this? I think you messed him up with another character thank you very much. (You should probably also rewatch the episode when he was the only one who remembered her when she got that invisible potion on her)**

 **But I aint gonna criticize people tastes, cause my story might seem weird for those people too, and I respect that.**

 **Heck, Zeus had hell sadistic Natsu and in some scenes it was really good.**

 **dark rose modoki - yea, I am also fan of NatsuxZeref, but (call me weird if you like) only if incest is involved.**

 **So far I found just one story like that, and it involved genderbent Zeref (why do they genderbend boys in yaoi I will never know)**

 **However, once I read chapter 450, I JUST EXPLODED AND THOUGHT "FUCK NO, NO NO! THEY ARE GONNA BE TOGETHER AND I DONT TAKE NO AS AN ANSWER"**

 **Mavis/Zeref just got me too hard. And that chapter was kinda lighting bolt for me to write this story, as I previously planned to keep it in my mind, but I needed them to get together after reading that.**

 **Well, in this chapter the A/N is very long, and I hope it didnt bore you too much. But on another note, the chapter, even tho short, did reveal few things right? So, better than A/N only right? :D  
**

 **See ya on Sunday!**


	6. The Moment That Changed Everything

**Okay, as promised, finished till Sunday! I read it over and over, but couldn't find any way how to make descriptions more detailed in these circumstances, so I hope it's gonna be enjoyable anyway and you will forgive me :D**

 **Also, I wanted to thank you all for reviewing/following/favouriting this story, even though it doesnt have your favourite pairing, it really helps me as I was seriously doubting myself if it's worth to continue writing it.**

 **Special thanks to zeus, who gave me back my confidence when he also gave me a green light, when I spoiled to him one of the gratsu scenes.**

 **Also, some of you said you were confused about the story so far, saying the gemstone was worthless, so let me sum it up for you what we know till now:**

 **After saving Master, team Natsu decided to go find Natsu, and found him in dark guild, which was terrorizing one village, claiming he was there to find magical item called Solean's Gemstone, which could remove curse from an item. After getting back to the guild they try to decide some mission which will be hell for Natsu, while the said guy runs off somewhere with the sword he was having attached to him and the gemstone.**

 **When he gets far enough he confesses in his thoughts that the sword swallowed/ contains his brothers Ankhseram's curse, which since Natsu loves life more than anything, straight after unsheathing the sword kills everything nearby, making it unusable for the second time. Now he finally takes the crystal which can _remove curse from an item_ and uses it on the sword, allowing it to swallow _another_ curse.**

 **Got it now? Or did I still not explain enough? (Im sorry, I suck when it comes to explaining even in normal subjects in school :D)**

 **Thanks a lot again to you all, and Enjoy!**

* * *

Natsu was sure he was in hell. There was no mistaking it.

The only difference being that it was freezing.

Being fire mage and all gave him naturally high body heat, and he didn't mind the frozen surroundings all that much. Even the strong, cold, unforgivable wind didn't trouble him as much.

But, walking in these circumstances _half naked_ and _barefoot_ could affect even the dragon slayer.

And he wasn't liking it one bit.

Erza Re-Quipped into her Cold Empress Armor (a.k.a. Huge coat with fur all over it, hood over her whole head that you could just make out her eyes if she looked at you –which was beyond creepy if you ask him-, huge thick trousers and almost army-like shoes up to her knees) while Lucy summoned Horologium to hide within.

The fact that the stupid Stripper looked unfazed irritated him even more, and except the very open sandals, he practically had the exact same circumstances as Natsu.

That was another irritating fact.

 _Damn ice mages._ He thought.

What was Natsu doing in these frozen wastelands, climbing a stupid mountain while barely wearing anything?

Well,…

… _funny_ story.

.

.

.

Actually, not that much. When he finally reached the guild the next day where the team was supposed to meet, he saw the almost devilish smiles on his friend's faces, and that freaked him out.

Not to mention he overslept and arrived late, and Erza's smile was a bit _too_ happy about the fact.

Yup, he just had the best of luck.

So in the end, they were supposed to find some kind of smelly flower on top of Hakobe mountain.

And by _smelly,_ Natsu meant extremely awfully smelling flower, on which's scent he will probably puke the second he gets close.

He was sure this was his friend's silent revenge for disappearing for over a year. Besides, the only one doing here something was just Natsu! That was plainly unfair! But when he tried to point it out to Erza she just told him that if he got any complaints he has to answer her fists.

Since when did she start speaking like Natsu himself?

So, albeit unwillingly, poor Natsu had to oblige, and every time he grumbled or muttered something about this unfair mission, he got looks either from smirking Gray or raging Erza.

He couldn't decide which one was worse.

"Awww, I'm tired!; She says" whined Lucy, well, Horologium, at which one of Natsu's eyebrows twitched as she was practically just sitting, letting her spirit endure the cold _and_ walk instead of her. She even had a frigging blanket in there! If she was complaining how should Natsu feel right about now?!

The way he was staring at the path before him must have been murderous, as he got another glance from raging Erza, and he swore he heard someone chuckle behind him.

It took a lot of reminding of how scary can Erza be to not turn around and land a punch in the bastard's face.

Oh how nice he would be rolling down if he made him loose his balance, slowly catching snow on him and forming into one big snowball, crashing into some huge ass tree, and then…

"Natsu" He immediately stopped his train of thoughts as he heard the threat in She-devils voice and gave her one of his reassuring smiles, silently telling her it's not gonna happen again.

Wasn't he the one who's supposed to be intimidating? So far it worked on everyone around him.

Heck even Acnologia listened to him when he gave the dragon asshole one of his glares, he remembered how once he even made him do –

…wait!

That was it! The glare!

He ran a few feet so he would be before Erza, stopped and turned to face her, making the whole group stop.

He stared at her, while she glared in the _what-the-fuck-are-you-doing_ way.

Natsu immediately shifted to the side, allowing the path to be cleared and the rest to continue walking.

Nope, there was no glaring for Erza unless he wishes to die painfully.

He hesitated in his next steps.

 _To die?_

Why was he so afraid of that? It's not like he could die from anything Erza –or anyone- would throw at him, and it didn't hurt as much as his normal fights.

Why was he so afraid of that word? It held no meaning for someone like him.

Was it just a habit that kept that fear going?

"Are you alright?"

He jumped few feet in the air from the surprise of being thrown out of his thoughts.

When he looked up he saw his friends few meters higher up the path that lead to the top of the mountain, giving him worried looks.

He didn't realize that he stopped, nor did he realize that his expression didn't look quite happy either.

He gotta snap out of it. There was no reason to sulk anymore.

And so he smiled.

"It's nothing" he almost whispered, and was surprised on how tired his own voice sounded. As if to make up for it, he started running up enthusiastically, unconsciously challenging Gray into race, which in the end everyone participated.

Erza had hard time running in that "armor" of hers, as she tripped over stones hidden in the snow every second, but refused to exchange it for something else, while Lucy just cheered Horologium on.

And Gray?

Gray found out that if you freeze the path and hope to skate upwards, you will be disappointed, as he fell on his butt and started sliding down the path, back to where he started.

Natsu watched them from higher up in disbelief, memories coming back to him.

He would never admit it, but he knew his eyes were starting to get watery and he cracked a smile.

Suddenly he couldn't hold back anymore and fell into the cold snow, not caring about being wet after it melts or the cold surroundings, while laughing like a maniac.

It's not that he haven't registered others coming closer to him with scowls on their faces, he just couldn't bring himself to care at that moment. He had to hold his stomach tightly or he had a feeling that it would burst from so much laughing, he also couldn't breathe very well, but figured it would be alright after a while.

 _That's_ when he started smelling something awful, and had to stop laughing or he would puke. He put one of his hands over his mouth to make sure nothing will come out, and then he noticed the evil auras radiating from his friends.

 _Not good._ Looks like they were near the stupid damn flower already.

Just great. Couldn't he get a break at least for few moments?

Apparently not, as they towed him in the direction of the awful smell.

Wait, how did they know the direction of it? Natsu was the one with the enchanted smell here!

Oh no, was this planned all along?

NO WAY!

He squirmed and trashed around in Erza's firm grip on his collar, but to no avail as he was dragged through the snow onto the top, where whole bushes of the stupid flower were.

Only then he was released, 'cause Erza probably didn't want him to puke on her.

Since he knew he won't be allowed to run far, he just buried his head into one pile of snow from many and hoped it will at least calm the effects of the scent a little.

He thought about the pills from his brother, but those weren't for such situations…

… or were they?

He tried it out by trying to reach out to his pocket without having to get his head out of the snow, his hair now completely stuck to his face as they were completely wet.

He finally found the glass bottle with his tries to blindly reach for it, and ate one of the pills.

After getting the bottle back to his pocket –or so he hoped- he tried it out by smelling the air a little.

Nothing.

He tried to get up from the pile of snow and stand normally.

Nothing.

He chuckled evily at his friends, which stared at him, realizing it worked and his nose was safe…for now.

Finally he could look around.

He saw the stupid flowers, which he was supposed to get, in middle of snow plateau. No trees in sight or anything, the only thing different from the snow were the targets of their mission.

He came closer to one of the bushes, crouching and inspecting the flowers.

If it wasn't for their smell, which he found still awful but could handle it now without becoming uneasy at least, they were very beautiful.

Dark blue, with white shades in middle of the six leafs each had, lily-like flowers.

Not bad, he could figure why someone would want them if they knew how to get rid of the scent. Sighing, he took one of these things and gave it to Erza, who just nodded and he hoped that was indication that they could finally move from this horrible place.

Wrong yet again.

Looks like Vulcans marked these flowers as theirs property.

Why was it that he had such luck today? Just when he didn't want to show to his friends his magic…

But, it were just Vulcans right? Even if he won't do anything, Erza should be capable to deal with them by one blow right?

So he just stayed in the back of the group, pretending he's still looking at the flowers, back facing the monsters, trying to look as he didn't notice their arrival.

Well, too bad, girls refused to fight as it would mean that they had to come out of their comfortable clothes/spirits, so the only one fighting was Gray.

Natsu knew he wasn't weak, but he was being greatly outnumbered, and the ice-make mage didn't have many, or maybe none, spells that would work for more than one target. Ice magic was a creation one, not destruction one.

He sighed again, knowing that he has to help since the sounds were loud enough even without his hearing, otherwise his friends would become suspicious.

That's the last thing he needed.

So, he turned to face them, still in his crouching position, and bounced off from there, leaving huge crater on the place he was almost sitting from the strength he used in that simple movement to charge. He started gathering magic around his hand, around which a fire, much bigger one, dragon-like with claws appeared, and as he started landing before the intruders, he smashed the ground, successfully making it crumble and created an avalanche, which took down the rest of monsters, which weren't defeated by the intense heat surrounding him, with it.

The rest of the group ran towards him, watching the avalanche go down, as if to make sure nothing was destroyed yet again, and then looked at him, amazed at his improvement.

"Amazing!; She says" praised Lucy, err, Horologium.

"Good job" Erza brought his head onto her chest, thankfully, this time she didn't have anything hard under the coat to get a headache from with that gesture.

Natsu grinned, showing victorious smirk towards his rival, as if to say " _Ha, try to beat that, asshole!"_ , but was surprised when Gray just stared at the avalanche, which was already gone, not saying a word.

He shrugged it off and begged Erza if he could finally go home.

Honestly, she wanted to torture him for longer, but found out that she couldn't stand the winter as much as she thought she could, and reluctantly nodded, making Natsu jump in delight and start running down the path they came from.

* * *

Why did luck hate him today? Not only he had to endure this whole stupid idea of mission –he swore he will never ever let his team choose another one without him-, but now a frigging snowstorm had to come too? When they were already in middle of the mountain, on their way back to the guild?

Fortunately, they managed to find a cave before the storm had became serious, and decided to take shelter there till next morning.

Thou, Lucy wasn't so lucky either as Horologium practically resigned and disappeared on the way, letting her fall onto the cold, stone floor of the deep cave. But they didn't want to go deeper than it was needed, reminding the event what happened with Lucy and Natsu that other time when they went deep into cave, and almost didn't find a way back.

Hey, wasn't his fault, how was he supposed to know the exit will close right behind them?

Thankfully, in his belongings that he took with him was a tent, since he was expecting mission somewhere far away, thinking they will want to get him on train.

He forgot he had the pills way too many times.

Erza, in her cart filled with way too many things happened to have one tent too.

So it ended up that Lucy and Erza shared a tent, while him and the freak were supposed to share the other one. Natsu refused, volunteering that he will have the first watch over their place, so no one would attack them in their sleep.

All of them were astonished that he didn't fight over the tent with Gray, arguing it was his tent and kicking him on the cold floor.

Maybe Natsu missed them too, and tried to do something nice before he leaves for who knows how long again?

They didn't have any logs, so Natsu himself was a campfire which illuminated the walls with light, orange glow, as everyone sat around and discussed all kind of things before they heard Lucy's stomach growl, whom blushed from embarrassment.

Erza just smiled and threw to each one of them a can with food, but Natsu noticed she didn't have any afterwards.

"Where's yours?" he questioned.

"I'm not hungry." She exclaimed, only for her stomach to give a rebelling growl, indicating that it refused to go along with her decision.

He looked at his can of food.

"Here, take it" he threw it on her lightly, to make sure she will catch it. "I'm not hungry"

 _That_ shut everyone up. And Natsu tensed from all the attention he was suddenly getting.

He didn't have the need to sleep or eat anymore, even thought at first he did everything the same as before, slowly he was converting more of his time to searching for ways how to cure his brother and the other person, that he ate less, slept less, until he got used to not doing these kind of things at all.

He realized that might have been a bit drastic change for his friends.

"I ate everything I could find in one store on the way to the guild ya know!" he grinned, hoping to calm them down and to convince Erza to finally take the food.

After she nodded he was glad, that can would be wasted on him anyway.

Well, he did like helping his friends, no matter what it was (mostly).

.

.

.

But he _did_ mind when they were starting to use him as oven, or whatever, but seriously, he wasn't setting his body on fire to make their damn food warm.

Hell even the stupid, idiotic, half naked Stripper was using him as a cooking machine!

He frowned, crossing his arms over his chest, to make sure they noticed he wasn't comfortable, but they either didn't get the message or ignored it, as they started discussing if there was any way to contact the guild or not, so they wouldn't worry about them.

A tick mark appeared on Natsu's forehead and he was about to say something before Lucy beat him to it.

"I'm tired!" she yawned and stretched her arms. "I think this is it for me guys, I'm going to sleep!" Suddenly Loke appeared out of nowhere.

"Can I go sleep with you, my lady?" he asked, earning punch to the face from _both_ , Erza and Lucy.

"Absolutely no, there is no space for one more person!" raging Erza threatened, punching him again.

So, in his defense (and so he wouldn't get punched anymore), he brought Lucy some clothes from Celestial word, so she wouldn't have to wear her usual blue skirt with white top, which really shouldn't be used in this freezing winter, not to mention they were wet from the snow melting on them, and went back to the Spirit world, bragging to unfortunate Taurus and Capricorn about how he helped his master, and that the next time she is surely like to agree with going on date with him. They both just nodded, knowing this was a lost cause.

Erza followed Lucy to theirs tent once she called for her that she finally changed her clothes, leaving Gray and Natsu behind.

Natsu just sat there, looking at the ground, canceling his magic since he didn't need to waste his magic power on keeping himself warm and the stripper sure didn't need it either.

The atmosphere between them was rather awkward, as none of them knew what to say, and right after Gray finished his food, he went to their tent, going to sleep.

Natsu sighed, he leaned on one of the cave walls, one of his legs outstretched while he brought his knee of the other one to his face and let his chin fall on it.

He closed his eyes, thinking about what he should do now and unconsciously took the sword attached to his belt and hugged it closer to him, as if it was the most important thing in this world.

* * *

Gray couldn't sleep very well, whole day he was bothered by the fire freak.

Asking why was he bothered by that piece of crap that was called his rival?

Well…first he was acting very strange, time from time he had these lonely looks that showed his mind was somewhere far away. Then, he hesitated way too much when the Vulcans attacked their group, as if being afraid of getting into fight, and third, he _refused_ _free food._

That was not Natsu at all. Was this really the real one? Wasn't it just someone else having the same appearance?

No, he knew everything theirs Natsu did when they talked to him, discussing all kinds of memories.

Did something happen then? That must have been it, after all, he did say he found out he had a real brother right?

Come to think of it, Flame-Breath never talked about his family, sure he was bragging about Igneel every chance he got but he _didn't_ come out of dragon's egg.

Or Gray sure thought so.

What about his real family? Not that Gray talked much either. Or Erza. Or Lucy.

…

Okay no one from them talked about it until those pasts finally crept up to them, Gray's being the first, did this mean this was the life-changing moment in Natsu's life?

Probably.

Gray still remembers how he was feeling facing his past, and he could bet he looked far worse than Natsu does now, Erza and Lucy didn't look well either.

That has to be it right?

Then, he would repay his debt to Natsu when he helped Gray getting through those hard times. Then they would be settled.

He rolled again in the sleeping bag the pinkette gave him along with the tent. Sure, he made Gray build it all by himself, but Gray did feel a little guilty.

Aah, what was he saying, he knew he wasn't. He smirked, and rolled again.

He sighted and brought one of his hands over his face, he really didn't feel like sleeping. Looking up, he sighted again.

He decided he isn't tired enough to go sleep, so he got up and made his way away from the tent, towards Natsu, wanting some kind of argument to wear him out so he could go into peaceful world of dreamland.

But he stopped in his tracks when he saw that kind of lonely look on his face again.

He thought about the times Natsu stopped him from using iced shell, and slowly went to sit beside him.

"Hey." Was all he said.

Was also all it took for Natsu to snap out of whatever he was thinking about it seems.

"What?" he asked in irritated, yet somehow tired tone, making Gray raise his eyebrow.

But he realized that argument was probably not what Natsu needed right now, so he tried to stay as passive as he could, refraining himself from picking up a fight, which was, in a way, wearing him out plenty also.

"Care to tell me what happened making you act like this?"

"What 'like this'?" he tilted his head, as if he was confused over what Gray was talking about.

"Che, refusing food, refusing _fight_ , getting lost in _thoughts_ every now and then, that's too out of you, so care to spill out your worries at me till I'm okay with listening to your whining?" he irritably almost yelled, for a while scared and looking out if he woke up the demon Erza or not, and when he made sure he didn't he turned back towards ash brains only to find him in that lost expression yet again.

He really didn't like it, he wanted to punch and kick Natsu until he finally got out of it, or couldn't even move anymore. He smirked at that thought.

"Hey Gray,…" he started, in serious tone, making Gray uneasy, since the idiot never took anything serious, unless it was a fight in which his friends were hurt badly.

So this must have been something really important.

"…what would you do, if E.N.D. was kind and innocent demon?" he finished his previous question, and it took a while before Gray registered what he was asking, as it was barely audible.

.

.

And then he started laughing hard. "E.N.D.? Kind? Innocent? Haha! That was a good joke!" He patted Natsu on the shoulder. "Seriously, I thought you were serious for a while there, you got me good!" He continued laughing.

"I was serious you know." Natsu faced him, and Gray's expression hardened.

"Then wake up already, because such demons don't exist." He said darkly, while getting up and making way back to his tent, he knew he didn't help Natsu one bit, and probably worsened it, but he couldn't care at the moment less, as this was touchy subject for Gray.

Too bad he didn't know that that simple sentence he blurted out without thinking was going to change everything about Natsu.

* * *

 **So that's it!**

 **I hope it was alrighty! I should update on the end of next week chapter 6, cause Im kinda busy with school and work this whole week, so let's just hope I survive it!**

 **laxusdrayer2324 - Oh well, guess who else except Zeref got ankhseram's curse and is a girl in the series...**

 **Daygon: Im not genderbending anyone, I hope...unless I messed up someone's gender it shouldnt be there :D**

 **Thanks a lot for support ef07!**

 **Wacko12 - oh, he will beat way more than just Erza in a fight...MUAHAHAHA**

 **See ya next time guys!**


	7. Fallen Fairy

**Hi! I tried my hardest to make this till Monday, and Im sorry that its like 5 minutes before Monday :D I really did try everything I could, but I was busy with school project and work.**

 **This chapter was EXTREMELY hard to write for me and I got no idea, as it was the chapter I imagined of them in my plan the most.**

 **The whole time it was like: I need him to be there...but how do I get him there?**

 **:D**

 **Well, anyhow, Im sorry for the lack of descriptions, but it was really hard week on me, cause two days I wasnt even sleeping since I had too much work.**

 **I promise that next chapter is gonna be better :)**

 **So enjoy!**

* * *

 _They were going across the edge of very narrow cliff, seeing deep, green forest below them, which was probably filled with people desperately looking for them. Explosions could be heard in the distance, and on each one of the sounds the two boys covered in bruises flinched._

 _Well, just one, since the other one was too busy carrying the younger one on his back, as he before refused to move from utter exhaustion and depression, almost getting himself killed._

 _They were escaping from yet another village that was destroyed just because of their presence, the Rune Knights not giving them a single second to breathe, killing everyone around, even those their country swore to protect._

 _What a hypocrites._

 _Yet, seeing that kind of event occur every year, over and over again, was becoming too much to handle for the younger one, as he was barely 7 years old, not ready yet to face such events, and not knowing what did he do so wrong to deserve this kind of treatment._

 _All they did was to live, was that wrong?_

 _The younger one –Natsu-, even though being carried, looked like he was exhausted enough to pass out, his expression blank, and his eyes, previously filled with determination, were now void, like he just lost his will to continue on this journey of theirs._

 _You wouldn't be really wrong if you said he gave up on everything._

 _The elder one continued carrying Natsu, afraid that he will see the sight of his younger sibling in hands of Magic Council. This time it was way too close, and he couldn't bring the picture of one Rune Knight with Natsu in his hands and sword on his neck from his mind._

 _And that utterly terrified him, but what was even worse, the usual spirit of his brother to fight for their lives was gone, he wasn't fighting the guard at all, letting him do as he pleased._

 _And Zeref though he knew why, but didn't mention it._

 _After all, being as young as Natsu, while seeing every village you ever lived in getting burned and people you loved in there getting killed right before your eyes, wasn't exactly the best imaginable childhood._

 _But what other choice did they have? Neither could die even if stabbed right through their hearts, or beheaded. They had to live, whether they wanted it or not._

 _And that simple thought broke them._

" _Nii-sama?" Zeref heard his younger sibling call him, just the way like 400 years ago, only this time his voice was filled with sadness and tired, while barely audible, as he could heard it only because it was whispered into his ear._

" _Yes, Natsu?" he answered without hesitation, determination filling his voice, hoping to calm his brother with his presence at least a little. Thinking that even if Natsu lost everything, he will be there to give him all he can, and if Natsu was ever left alone, Zeref will be there, always by his side, no matter what._

 _The reason why Natsu suffered so much was his fault anyway, and he should take responsibility for his reckless actions, his feelings were no excuse._

" _Why aren't we allowed to live? Is it because we're different?" Natsu asked, his voice shaking and Zeref could feel wetness on his neck, realizing his brother was probably crying over such fact._

 _Registering what was being said, Zeref abruptly stopped, thinking over how exactly he should answer that question for a child to understand._

 _He looked over the edge of the cliff they were going on, and spotted the beautiful sunset hovering over the forest below them. He closed his eyes to feel the warmth of the last rays of the sun, and the cold rustle of the wind across his skin._

 _And after a while he decided._

 _Carefully, he put Natsu onto the ground, kneeling before him so he would face him, and put his right hand on the soft pink locks, taking in his brother's adorable features._

" _No, even if we were normal humans we would be chased down like this…." Zeref almost stopped himself seeing Natsu's desperate look, but he needed to continue, he knew he did, no matter how much it hurt, his brother deserved to know why they were hunted like wild animals. "…it's because we have power, Natsu. Power beyond their imagination, that they are both, afraid and jealous of. No matter who you are, once you have that, you will be always alone. Mostly people wish for power to protect those dear to them, but it's as much blessing as a curse." Natsu looked panicked and Zeref gave him a gentle smile, while ruffling the pink hair of his, knowing it always soothed Natsu. "But don't worry, I will be always there for you, you will never be alone, that I promise to you."_

" _So, remember Natsu, no matter what happens, don't use it unless there is no other way, understand?" his brother nodded teary eyed and jumped straight into Zeref's arms, startling him._

" _You will never leave me, right Nii-sama?"_

 _Zeref looked at him, seeing the desperation in his younger's sibling eyes and extended his hand with his pinky finger lifted, waiting for Natsu to do the same._

" _Right!" he connected the two fingers together, making a promise._

* * *

Feeling ache in his back, Natsu opened his eyes, confused as to where he was at first, but looking around he realized he was still in the cave they hid in from the storm. Straining his hearing, it looked like he was the only one awake, and he sighted.

"Just a dream?" he asked himself, fully knowing that it was yet another memory, which was the reason why it felt so real.

Most of the memories from after his resurrection weren't good ones, and after few months of constantly waking up covered in sweat after horrifying nightmares, Natsu refused to sleep at all, knowing he could, yet had no need at all unless he was completely exhausted either mentally or physically.

He guessed that after yesterday's conversation it was the first.

He really hoped Gray would have different reaction, he hoped that his brother was wrong, but it looked like no matter what he would do, he wouldn't get accepted after his friends found out.

Well, he won't blame them, without his memory he would also still believe in the same things they did, so he wasn't any different at all, and he knew that hurt.

His plan was to save Mavis, and at first he thought that if he asked his family, and told him of his reasons, they would understand.

Seems he was wrong, but maybe it was for the best.

He will do it alone, there was no need to involve Fairy Tail in his own problems. This was different than previous times with Erza, Lucy and Gray.

This time, if he would involve them, Fairy Tail would be marked as dark guild, his friends as traitors, and he didn't trust Magic Council or King for mercy after remembering the deaths of people who tried to help him and his brother by letting them live together with them.

He couldn't bear to think about what would happen to Fairy Tail if Council found out, but, if they had no idea, then all should be okay, right?

Right. Even if he was to be marked as traitor alone, he could bear it, he will always have his brother if nothing else.

And that's all that matters to Natsu.

He lived happy life within Fairy Tail in exchange for his brother's suffering, just like a parasitic leech, and he will never be able to forgive himself for that.

It was only fair that he will give up his own happiness for Zeref's this time, he got a full debt of 400 years to pay, after all.

Natsu always filled his deals and kept his promises, this time will be no different.

He heard yawns and shuffling and his head instantly turned towards the noise.

Looks like others started to wake up. A gentle smile appeared on his face, he still got some time with them, he will enjoy the last moments with his friends, before it all goes down.

Natsu stood up, making a way towards the two tents.

"Wake up! Wake up!" he started shouting, much to grumpy Gray's, sleepy Lucy's, and enraged Erza's dismay.

It didn't take long before he was being chased down by all of them for waking them up, or rather getting them away from the comfort of their beds.

But in the end, they were all laughing, and it somehow ended with pillow fight, from which Lucy almost immediately retreated, seeing the fired up faces of her teammates, not wanting to repeat the beating she got at that time in the hot springs resort.

* * *

After all of them calmed down, they finally began their way home through the snowy mountains. With the storm cleared they realized they weren't all that far from Magnolia, which was good in a way. Erza was satisfied with her punishment to Natsu for leaving without so much as single word and she was looking forward to getting home.

There was one thing that didn't sit with her well enough though.

Gray was way too silent, Natsu was way too hyper, and both haven't insulted or started fighting with one another the whole way. Actually they were _avoiding_ having to talk to each other, which never happened. Did they have some kind of argument? But she didn't hear anything just the previous night…

Whatever it was, she hoped they will get over it soon, it's not good to make Natsu leave in such circumstances.

She decided she will give them a day to work it out between each other before her fists did the job. They were Natsu and Gray after all, no matter how much they argued, she knew that they wouldn't have problem to fight alongside each other once it became serious.

Yeaaah, if she just asked that time…

* * *

When they arrived at the guild they were welcomed by silence and few glares.

Why you ask?

Mirajane was singing, well not anymore, since they interrupted her performance and now she was waving them from the wooden stage in the back of the guild while calling "Welcome home".

Surprisingly all of them (even Natsu) got the silent message from their guildmates and quietly joined the crowd, so the singing could continue.

All of them sat at the usual table in corner of the guild hall, silently watching everyone enjoying the performance, as some started to dance slowly to the gentle tune, and some (Macao and Wakaba) tried to sing along.

Completely failing in trying to look cool.

The air between Gray and Natsu was rather awkward, but girls either didn't notice or didn't care as Lucy was teasing Erza about Jellal all the time. But all that was gone when something warm flew towards Natsu, and it held a letter with golden seal.

Upon closer look, Erza noticed that it was the same bird that they flew on from the dark guild, only this time it had size of normal one.

"What kind of magic is that?" she asked him, making him look at her as if she was some alien from another planet.

"A fire magic." Natsu said simply and Erza had sudden urge to slap herself on the head.

"I get that, but last time I saw you, you were setting yourself on fire, not summoning fire birds out fo nowhere." Erza almost lashed out at him, but kept her anger in control.

Or so she thought, as Natsu started shaking from the deadly aura surrounding her.

"W-Well, you see,…it's a phoenix actually, not a fire bird, hehe" Natsu stuttered, knowing that _no one_ dares to correct Erza.

But he remembered that a little bit too late.

But she just looked at him in confusion. "Phoenix?"

He decided to explain at least this part of his magic, since he saw the curious stares from all of his teammates. Even Gray's interest got piqued a little. "You know how Lyon can make all those kind of animals that move according to his will?" They all nodded. "This is something similar, but I can create just the creatures that was originally fire ones, like Phoenix or Dragon, and they can move how they want to some extent with their mythical abilities! Ain't it awesome?"

"Mythical abilities?" Lucy tried to interrupt his self-admiration.

"Yep, for example, Phoenix's tears can heal wounds and he can lift heavy objects!"

"I see!"

"But I can't make things from other attribute than fire."

"Sounds like you improved a lot" Erza patted his shoulder, her eyes filled with pride.

He smirked, his prideful gaze directed towards his rival, who just glared at him, and soon it resulted in staring contest, which made the two girls laugh.

Suddenly, Natsu remembered that the phoenix brought him a letter, probably from his brother.

He took it out and began to read, barely aware that others were standing behind him reading over his shoulder.

After reading through the whole note, Natsu paled considerably, and Lucy took the letter from his hand.

"Wow, seems your brother is a sadist!" Gray took the note from Lucy this time out of curiosity.

"And he's into bondage too" he smiled, not at all pitying the poor boy, who was now sprawled on the floor, hoping for salvation from his sibling.

"This…..is…hell…" he muttered, not moving even an inch.

"Take it from the better side…wait….ball?!" Lucy yelled out. "You?! Attending a ball?! Hahahahahaa!" she fell into fits of laughter, rest of the group following not so slowly after.

"Awww, shut up, I know it's hell, that's exactly why I don't wanna go! But he just keeps pestering me about it again and again and again and again!"

"Well then! Let's celebrate our reunion, before you have to go!" suggested Erza.

"Aye!" whole guild shouted in unison.

And so the drinking contest began.

* * *

Natsu hastily went down the stairs, leading to the deepest secret of the guild. Remembering his friend's drunken faces, and most of them passed out already. He took the note in his hands and read it again, there was a secret message for just his eyes to see.

" _It's time"_ it said.

Natsu sighted, knowing what it meant, but nevertheless he continued going down, until he spotted the very familiar person inside huge blue crystal, shining in all it's glory.

There was no turning back now.

He came closer to it, lit his hand, around which a fire, dragon claw appeared, and smashed the crystal into pieces, without damaging the body.

He was quite surprised Mavis ghost didn't register anything. He wanted to take the body of Fairy Tail's first master, but he stopped in middle of his tracks and blushed, realizing one thing.

She was naked. And he just saw his brother's girlfriend naked.

Oh, he's _so_ gonna get killed.

He hurriedly took his own coat and threw it over her, placing her on his shoulder and slowly making his way out.

"What do you think yourself doing?!" he heard dark voice and looked up, seeing Gray, Erza and Lucy on the stairs.

He wondered how he should answer this.

"Natsu…" he noticed the shaky voice of his blonde friend, and the way her eyes started getting watery.

"So it was you after all."

"I can't believe this. Out of all people…"

Natsu knew that they weren't going to take this well in the beginning, but it stung a lot when he caught the betrayal in their voices.

But he couldn't back out now.

He had to do it, or Fairy Tail would be in danger.

He had to do it, or there was never gonna be anyone to save his brother.

He had to do it, or he would live as parasitic leech for the rest of his life, leaving his brother to suffer alone.

It hurt, it hurt a lot, but it was the only way.

He took a step forward, bracing himself for the hurtful words that were sure to come.

Determined, he faced his friends that were looking at him in disbelief, already preparing their magic, patiently waiting for his response.

Probably hoping that he was possessed.

This is where the act starts.

He smirked, purposely showing his pointy teeth in threatening manner, knowing that this was the right choice.

Natsu stomped on the ground, leaving a big crater there, and the ceiling started shaking. He lit his body on fire, illuminating the dark room, and started laughing.

"Mostly it's people you never expect it to be."

Their eyes widened. This wasn't their Natsu, this couldn't be their Natsu.

"Ice-make: Lance" Gray shouted, and many ice blades appeared before him, aiming straight at Natsu.

But they turned into a steam before even reaching him.

"What?!"

" _Such demons don't exist"_

They would never understand his reasons….

Erza Re-Quipped into her Flame-Empress armor and started attacking Natsu, while Lucy transformed into Taurus Stardress with her whip.

Gray refused to give up and created Icebringer swords in his hands and charged along with his fellow teammates.

"Fire Dragon Demon King's…." an enormous magic power started concentrating near Natsu, and the whole room started shaking uncontrollably.

"…Roar!" a fire beam, disrupting the floor was aimed towards them, and they were too late to dodge. Erza believed her armor to hold on and stepped up front, before the rest of group.

Her calculations were wrong, as upon contact the armor cracked and the magic attack pushed her towards others where it exploded with unbelievable power, destroying the way out, along with the ceiling.

"W-Why?" asked desperately Erza, now covered in bruises and unable to stand up, lying on the cold floor filled with rumbles of stones everywhere along with her friends.

"My name…" Natsu stepped up front, facing them, looking straight at the stares of disgust, betrayal and fear.

" _That's right..."_

"…Is Ethelious Natsu Dragneel…"

Their eyes widened, and he almost couldn't bear the hatred which started to form in Gray's eyes.

"… _This is how you should act towards me…"_

"…younger brother of Zeref Dragneel, and his last demon, you so much wanted to kill." He tried hard to keep his own voice steady.

Utter disbelief and extreme tension filled the room, and Natsu decided this was his cue for leaving, as he heard noises coming out from the upper side of the guild, indicating that the explosion attracted some other people, drunk or not.

"… _.For I am a Demon…"_

The phoenix appeared behind Natsu, again in his admirable vast form, and Natsu mounted it, Mavis still securely put on his shoulder.

"N-No! Come back you bastard!" shouted Gray.

"Don't take First Master away! Don't you realize what's Zeref is gonna do with her? Natsu I'm begging you! Don't do it!" Lucy screamed, tears streaming across her face, and Natsu couldn't help but clench his teeth in pain, knowing that he was the one who made her have this kind of expression.

"… _Not a Fairy…"_

He closed his eyes and bit his lip, hoping to lessen the pain he was feeling inside, and trying to hold back his own tears that threatened to fall out soon, which would ruin this whole façade of his.

Phoenix fluttered with his wings and flew towards the sky, taking their beloved Salamander and First Master along with him.

They could hear faint shouts of their names and if they were alright somewhere in the background, but all they could do at the moment was stare with tears on the retreating form of their once friend.

"… _Not anymore…"_

* * *

 **Okay Im gonna confess here, yep I stole the phoenix abilities from Harry Potter, but who cares? I do need them, or at least the healing...**

 **I really thank you guys for reading this story, it gives me courage always to write another chapter, cause im normally very shy girl, believe it or not :D**

 **BTW, curious what was in that letter? Here you got it:**

 _ **Natsu,**_

 _ **I don't care what the hell you are you doing right about now, now do I care about how much you hate it, we already discussed that you have to be there, so I will hear no excuses.**_

 _ **Two days from now on, if you don't move your ass to the ball I swear I will tie you up to your own bed, lock all doors and windows and leave him in there with you.**_

 _ **Surely you can imagine what would happen right? And don't think that if you don't appear for few days that's gonna save you, you know I will find you, and then I will make it way worse.**_

 _ **Got it?**_

 _ **Sincerely,**_

 _ **Your Dear Brother.**_

 **END OF LETTER :D**

 **soo, how was the chapter? tell me tell me! Im gratefull for all you guys really, and I hope to see you next week in another one!**

 **Alaaaeerii!**


	8. Leftover Feelings

**Hi! Thank you all guys for soo many reviews! It made me soo damn happy that I was thinking all the time "I need to update sooner this time I need to update sooner, I-" *looking at her schedule* Awww, shit :/**

 **But I tried my best, and thought about one little event after Happy will arrive (which is next chapter), and I will tell you about it in next A/N, and I hope its gonna be a good idea.**

 **Oh and! I GOT INVITE INTO A COMMUNITY! I was soo damn happy!**

 **Then I realized...wait...Im a starter...WHAT DOES A COMMUNITY STAFF MEMBER DO?! :D**

 **okay, nope :D**

 **Anyway! Heres new chapter, not much of progress, as its mostly just about feelings like the chapter name says.**

 **Also, I wanted to explain Natsu's abilites, so it wouldnt confuse you.**

 **I got inspired by the picture from the second movie of Natsu's dragonification AND his fight with Jellal. Remember how he had that fire dragon around himself without transforming? Thats how his skills in this story look like. Just a fire, transparent dragon body parts around his own body.**

 **Writing bunny: You will find out who him is in next chapter...probably...if not then the chapter behind that one :D**

 **JerzaIn24: Yep, dont worry, I officialy amrked this story as gratsu!**

 **Its nice to see you back Gersus!**

 **OsamaBinBoobler: Yeaaa, thanks, at first I thought like, WTF DID I JUST MAKE :D, then you came with your comment and suddenly "uuuf, im not so stupid after all, it doesnt have those just in harry potter...xD"**

 **ef07: NEW STRANGE SERIES?! HELL YEAH! I WAS SO DAMN SAD WHEN YOU SAID YOU END WITH STRANGE BONDS/FAMILY I ALMOST CRIED! IM GONNA HAVE A FRONT SEAT ON YOUR NEXT SERIES!**

 **Well I suppose thats all in starting A/N so I wont spoil much,**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

It was warm night, as expected of summer time, yet inside he felt way too cold, and for a second he was sure Popsic-

No…

…he hadn't the right to call him that anymore. Not after he betrayed him, along with the rest of Fairy Tail.

After ordering his phoenix to send the body to Alvarez, where his brother waited, he made a small stop in outskirts of Magnolia. He thought that the guild was still way too shaken from the news they surely heard, so they wouldn't care about trying to find him here.

Yet, he couldn't help it, he had to make one thing certain for himself.

He cannot go back.

No matter how much he wants to.

No matter how much his heart begs to.

Even if his friends found out the truth and wanted him back, he had to make sure he had nowhere to go here, so it would be assured that he has no place here anymore.

Because he belonged here no more.

He couldn't help but to curve his lips into a gentle smile, as he brushed with his hands the sign which said "Natsu&Happy". Looking at his house now, it looked like real dump, and he was sure that inside it was messy. But he went in anyway. Reminiscing about all the memories it held, the rumble from when he destroyed the meeting place of guild masters, the posters of jobs he made together with Lucy and his team, the fake Salamander sign,…

Well, there was way too much of it, and Natsu couldn't hold the tears back anymore, he had to bit himself as he barely managed to keep his sobs under control as sudden warmth escaped his eyes and slid down his cheeks, a choking sounds coming from his throat as he tried to hold back with everything he got.

But he was never one who could hide his emotions well, but he had to leave and do it before his resolve would break. He left the house again, going through his messy kitchen, his comfortable hammock…

No…forget it, these things couldn't go with him.

With last glance at his house from the outside, he closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on what he was about to do.

After a while he clicked his fingers in the air above his head, and loud explosion could be heard. He dared himself to open his eyes yet again, and watch how his house was slowly burning away, trying to not leave a single trace of any connection he ever had with Fiore.

He burned his guild mark long ago, right before his brother, when he was making the promise to get rid of his and Mavis's curse, to show him his determination. Zeref wasn't happy about his decision of leaving his happiness, but after a while he gave up on convincing Natsu to go back and just kill him and forget all of this.

After all, when it was something important for Natsu, no one could get through his stubborn head.

When the last wood became a mere black dust, which soon waves of the wind carried somewhere far away, just then Natsu finally dared to go back, making the flying fire creature appear from the palm of his hand and traveled with it towards his new home.

From higher up Magnolia was really beautiful, Natsu noticed, as the flickering lights were shining greatly in the night below him, he wished that this sight would be imprinted in his memory forever, as the last and only memory of his time in here.

* * *

He arrived above window of his own room, which he wasn't surprised that was opened, patiently waiting for his return. He climbed inside the almost fantasy-like castle and stretched his hand back towards the phoenix, which disappeared into waves of flame that were directed back at the outstretched hand, being immediately absorbed into the demon's body upon contact.

After that he looked around, studying this old dark room of his, as it suddenly felt very unfamiliar to him.

He had a King's size bed in middle of the wall on his left, with red blanket, three pillows, and it had a frame around it which held something like a wooden roof above it, from which white, transparent curtains hung. Next to it were small tables for notes, books, or anything he decided to put aside from before he fell asleep. Of course it held little night lamps as well. While on his right was just a wardrobe and desk, filled with various books and papers with bad handwriting from his research on the gemstone and the sword.

After getting used to his room once again, he closed the window and went towards his door, wanting to greet his brother and tell him he was now truly home.

But when he put his hand onto the handle, he felt something wet fall on it, and as he looked down he saw small splashed droplet of water on his wrist.

Where did that come from?

 _Lucy enraged face flashed through his mind, as he once again barged into her apartment without permission, using her bathroom and bed while waiting for her arrival, grinning on her as she came back._

No more…

 _A pain flashed in his mind as he recalled one of the stupid dangerous charges he always did, and even though he survived without problem and wasn't even badly injured, he received Erza's fist on his head for like tenth time that day for that simple thing._

Not anymore…

 _He recalled one of his fights with Gray over last piece of meat on the plate, headbutting together and calling each other names while Gray would discard his clothes absent mindly, resulting in fist fight between the two of them._

Never again…

.

.

Drip

.

.

Another one.

He touched his cheeks, feeling fresh wet trails there, realizing that he was crying. He tried to wipe them off with his fake sleeve, but more and more kept coming and Natsu didn't know why.

He didn't feel pain.

He didn't feel sad.

He didn't feel tired.

He actually felt very numb, but the tears kept coming in unending waves of salty water that he couldn't stop.

And so he decided to do one thing that always calmed him down when he was a young child. He went into his brother's room and found him sitting on the bed, reading a book, and once he heard the door open he immediately directed his gaze towards Natsu, and his eyes widened.

"Natsu? Wha-" but he didn't manage to finish his sentence as Natsu sat next to him and put his head on Zeref's chest, hoping for comfort.

And soon enough, without asking any question, warm arms wrapped around him and tugged him closer, so Natsu could feel the warmth of the other body all over him.

One of Zeref's hands traveled all the way to Natsu's salmon hair and was slowly ruffling it, soothing Natsu.

And at that time Natsu decided.

Decided that he will make his world revolve around his brother's happiness only, discarding all of his feelings for others and anything.

Even if he was just a substitute.

* * *

(In Magnolia)

The guild was unusually quiet, as no one dared to say a word after hearing of Natsu's betrayal. Erza, Lucy and Gray were carried into infirmary and kind of interrogated with questions about what happened.

No one believed them at first, but seeing the burning marks on their bodies was a clear evidence, and so no one dared to argue with them, as they probably had it the hardest, actually witnessing Natsu to act like that.

After a while Master Makarov and Porlyusca, who went just to check up on master originally, but ended up treating the wounded guild members too, sent all of them away from the infirmary, saying that others needed to rest.

And so they all waited with anticipation for the speech their master was surely to give them. However it wasn't until a late midnight when he finally appeared, having grief written all over his face.

He jumped onto the fence of the second floor, coughed, resulting in rise of the tension that was already filling the room, but getting all of the attention nevertheless. Behind him coming into view members of Natsu's team with the same expressions.

Unless someone paid extra attention to Gray, they thought it was grief expressions.

"All of you probably know this by now, but…we were betrayed and our first master stolen by none other than member of our very own family, Natsu Dragneel." Gray frowned at the name, but no one payed attention to him as they were all preoccupied with master's words, which were only furthering their suspicions about the rumor. "We have to get Lumen Histoire back as soon as possible, or it could result in war way worse than we were in danger few days ago. We may cross our paths with him yet again, but this time with different feelings, and as much as I would like to for you, my children, to not ever have to fight your own, I will have to beg you here to bring Natsu to me once you see him to explain himself, I will explain more once I got more information, that's all for today." He casted few glances around whole guild before turning his back towards them, leaving to the shadow of second floor. „You can all go home now."

But Gray was having none of that, he followed the Master, wanting to shout at him that he will go after Natsu, _that he will hunt him down until he explains_ and have him beg on his knees for mercy. After he turned around a certain corner he halted, and hid behind a wall, seeing Levy and Master, carefully listening to their conversation trying to not be spotted.

"…you understand? You are still working for the council, so it shouldn't be a problem, I just want you to sneak into their archives and look up anything about Zeref or Natsu, what could help us in finding out the truth about all of this." He could hear hidden hope and determination in Makarov's words, of course he would never believe that his children were at fault, no matter what.

It was touching, but not in this kind of situation, Natsu was a disgusting monster, why no one cared about him being E.N.D. when he told them?

Or they didn't believe him?

"Of course! I will do my best! Leave it to me!" Levy shouted, and he heard her footsteps getting closer, so he hid in one of the rooms, and when he heard her walk past it he came out, hoping to have his own conversation with master, but he didn't expect him to be right behind the door he just opened.

Startled, he jumped few feet behind him, tripping over one of the boxes and falling onto his butt. Looking up at the guildmaster as even with his small form he was still higher than Gray almost lying on the cold wooden floor.

"I know what you are thinking, and I forbid you to have any attempts at Natsu's well being." He ordered, leaving no space for arguments, however Gray didn't want to give up on this so easily.

"But-"

"No buts! It's just how it is! Deal with it! For all we can know this is just another infiltration mission Natsu did!"

"Mission?! He is a frigging monster!" Gray shouted in response, getting slapped across his cheek, leaving a red mark there. He wanted to retaliate, or something, but when looked back at the place master was at just a few seconds ago, he saw nothing.

* * *

After his argument with Makarov he left the guild quickly, glad that no one dared to follow him or talk to him on his way across it, and now he was just walking around the town, unconsciously going towards Natsu's house. He was grumbling and muttering curses under his breath, about how unfair master was being. But, somewhere deep in him, he knew he hoped for the same thing.

But that part of him was way too deep, and now he was drowned in rage and disgust. Natsu was a demon, a monster, a Zeref's demon! Why couldn't anyone see that? Or did they forget the stories about him? Did they forget what Deliora did to his village?

He won't accept it, he will never accept it. He made a promise to his father and he was going to carry it out.

Besides, if Natsu knew actually how to infiltrate, who said that he was infiltrating Zeref and _not_ Fairy Tail?

Who said that all the years with that idiot weren't just a lie?

Who said that he just hadn't played with them all along? Quietly laughing somewhere deep in his mind over their trust?

He felt himself step on something hard instead of the mild grass, and instinctively looked at what it was.

Some kind of half burned wood.

But when he crouched down to get a better look at it, he saw a sign "Natsu&Happy", realizing this was part of that traitor's house, Gray couldn't help himself but to look around, seeing just burned mark on the hill that Natsu's house once stood, covered in some remains of black dust.

And that's when he realized, this was the remains of it.

Unaware of it himself, he began to freeze the trees around him.

Didn't Natsu always say how precious those memories were to him?

Didn't he always keep everything Gray gave him on all the celebrations they had, be it a lizard in cage named Natsu, or something else?

Didn't Natsu treasure anything of it? Or at least not enough to even keep one? To burn down all?

And what about Happy? Where was he now? Was he safe?

What if Natsu gone insane and did something to him?

Gray wouldn't forgive that, no matter what.

Determination filling his eyes, he went back to his own apartment, packed few things up and left a letter to Fairy Tail that he was going after Natsu, and no one could stop him.

" _Just wait, I_ _will_ _make you pay for playing with me!"_

* * *

 **Okay, soooo.**

 **First, before I confuse any of you, Ethelious Natsu Dragneel is the real Natsu Dragneel, not a substitute, I just added some mental turmoil to his already heavy pain by making him nto believe into ressurection (aka bringing back a soul from the realm of the dead), so he thinks he is just substitute to Zeref for his real brother, I want to work with this for the rest of the story, but once my friend read this she said like "WTF?! IS HE A CLONE?!"**

 **So I made a decision to explain this in A/N :D**

 **The burned down house...its not copied from FMA, its really not! I didnt even realize it was there until she told me! Then when I was rereading this like for 5th time I was like "Shit, did I just copy FMA?!...**

 **...nah...no way...IT WAS THEM WHO COPIED ME!"**

 **:D**

 **Anyway, see ya next time! And thank you all for support, it means a lot to me :)**


	9. Different Way To Live

**Okay, at first, Im sorry it took sooo damn long, but I was reaaaaally busy, and I still got a lot of work shifts awaiting me till the end of this week and the test from economy I got tomorrow morning isnt quite cheering me up either :D**

 **awesomeitude: Nope, Mavis isnt gonna force them back to the guild, but she is gonna force something from them...dont worry :D**

 **Thank you Shinigami! Im honored that one of ef07s inspirations is reading this story :)**

 **Jesse: Dont worry about writing reviews in some other language, I always read them and if needed, use translator :) And you will see all in chapters following dont worry ;)**

 **Gersus: I hope you will be cheering for me on the trial :D**

 **Well anyway! Here is your another chapter!**

 **ENJOY ! :D**

* * *

He woke up feeling sore, his eyelids felt extremely heavy and for a while he hoped that the darkness would envelope him once again, as it was very hard to lift them.

Unfortunately for him, luck didn't quite like him these days, and he was forced back to consciousness. He didn't recognize the room at first as his sight was all blurry, but after some time it cleared and he was able to gather enough of information from his brain to realize that he was in his brother's room, which was similar to his, except the bed being next to window.

How did he get in here? Natsu kept wondering as he tried to recall the previous night. Not that it was so strange to wake up with Zeref in the same bed, being reunited and all – plus the occasional nightmares both of them had- but normally he didn't feel like he got ran over.

"Are you feeling any better?" he heard a concerned voice behind him, as he still lied on the bed, having not moved at all since his awakening from feeling exhausted.

But once the words finally got through to his thick skull, he shifted towards the owner, moving his gaze towards him and seeing the worried look of Zeref's he realized, that something wrong that he didn't recall happened.

But Natsu didn't question it, knowing that the memory would either come back to him sooner or later, or it was something his brother assumed was better not remembering.

And right now, in all honesty, he trusted his brother way more than himself.

Smiling gently with the last strength he could muster at Zeref, he took in his brother's features, whom was still lying next to him with worry written all over his face.

Natsu noticed the disheveled bed hair of his, and knowing how much Zeref hated it, Natsu reached out his hand and messed with it even more, slowly sitting up and finally awaking fully.

"Yea, thanks to you, Nii-sama" he reassured him, the memory of his betrayal coming back to him, but his smile still lingered on his face.

Zeref didn't seem convinced at all, but he learned to give in when it came to his stubborn brother, so he just sighted and nodded, signaling that he understood and was willing to let the subject go.

"Let's go, we have a lot of work today!" Natsu cheered, changing back into his hyperactive mode, bouncing on the bed until he caught Zeref's palm and dragged him towards the door, not bothering to change clothes as both fell asleep in the same outfits they wore yesterday.

They ran through the large castle halls decorated with all kinds of ancient relics and colorful tapestries with Zeref sometimes stumbling as he wasn't so good in exercising as his younger sibling. Occasionally they ran past someone, while all others just looked at them with amusement stares and shook their heads upon seeing their childish antics.

But neither of them paid them any attention, as they continued running to the main hall, where the rest of their group was probably waiting for them.

However, when Natsu turned around the corner, he finally managed to crash into someone, and he began falling while still holding Zeref's hand, causing him to go down together with him. Expecting cold, hard floor, Natsu was surprised when he came into contact with something soft and warm.

Well, he didn't exactly got enough time enjoying his gentle fall so much, as his brother's weight strengthened by the fall made impact with Natsu's back , making him gasp for air and the whatever comfortable thing under him to groan.

Wait…

….he knew that groan all too well. Natsu carefully shifted his gaze towards the source, and upon seeing that he was right he became even more hyper than before, wearing a triumphant smirk on his face.

"Hey, what'cha doing grumpy dragon?" Natsu asked.

"My name is Acnologia, you petty demon" the 'thing' responded immediately, not liking it's position one bit. "…and to hell what _I'm_ doing! What are _you_ doing, crashing into random people and making them your cushion?!" the previous dragon king got enraged, and the loud laugher he heard coming from the direction of the two brothers lying on top of him didn't help his mood much.

Grumbling, he shoved them away, making them fall onto the floor and he tried to get up.

Now, that wouldn't be the Dragneel brothers without some mischief would they?

As soon as he was making his first step to get away, something grabbed his leg and tugged at it until Acnologia tripped and fell face down.

He growled as he heard their laughter get even louder, echoing through the half empty halls, and his patience started to run thin, not to mention he didn't exactly had the best waking up this morning either, or even one of his alle yet, and those two just had to go and mess with him even more!

Oh hell no, he wouldn't let himself lose to them!

He then got up on his four and tackled the two still laughing boys, joining them in the happy mood.

Zeref gave up easily, as he wasn't exactly putting up a fight.

Natsu was a different case, they fought over the top position for a while, but with him still laughing so hard he lost to Acnologia too after some time. He wouldn't confess it to anyone, but he liked the sight of the demon under him, since Acnologia got that beating from him few months ago.

His pride still didn't recover from that, but after he got to know Natsu, he didn't mind as much.

After all, if it wasn't for this idiotic, affectionate and loyal demon, Acnologia would still be lost in loneliness and self-pity. So he was forever grateful to this person with hilarious color of hair that rivaled sakura's blossoms and to which softness there was no match.

How did a demon look much more human than any other?

Natsu was always adorable kid, and seeing him all grown up made Acnologia happy to no end as he was proud of him, and glad that he fulfilled Natsu's father wish so much it brought tears to his eyes.

Looking down at them, he was glad that they were reunited once again, 'cause Natsu's death left both himself and Zeref broken to the point of no return.

…or so they thought, before the said person came back to them –thanks to Zeref's research- like it was no big deal and broke the walls they were building over 400 years along with melting their hearts with no effort at all.

Natsu calmed down from his outburst and noticed the look Acnologia was giving him, guessing what was probably going on in his mind, and decided it was better to distract him from those, knowing it's for the best to not think about that past anymore. He got up, getting the attention from both of them and extended both of his hands towards them.

They looked at each other momentarily before taking Natsu's hands and letting themselves be lifted up back onto their legs with grins on their faces, happy that their family was recovered over the lost time.

They walked side by side with Natsu in the middle, both dragon slayers arguing over some of the simplest things while Zeref just watched them both with gentle smile. Maybe they will finally manage to get to the main hall, since as it turned out, with his hyper mode active and running all around with no aim, Natsu got lost and led them in the wrong direction, which was the sole reason why they had met Acnologia halfway.

It was rare times like these when Natsu didn't think of himself as a mere tool.

As they were getting near their goal, they saw Brandish stomping around in circles, obviously mad about something, while some kind of very small insect was trying to avoid coming anywhere near her foot.

" _Poor thing"_ they all thought in unison, knowing far well that there was no escape from Brandish, as they also had hard time running from her when they broke one of hers shoes when they tried if the heels of hers could break a window.

Well actually, just Natsu and Acnologia tried, while Zeref was betting with Happy how much beaten up they will finish. They shrugged it off, knowing that few pieces of broken glass couldn't do much harm, not realizing the two betting guys had completely different danger in mind.

When they came closer, they just sweatdropped at seeing tiny version of Marin running around, trying not to get squished by the ridiculously high heels.

When he noticed their arrival he retreated behind Natsu's leg, tugging at the baggy pants.

"Save me lord Natsu-sama!" he begged while crying, making Natsu chuckle, looking quite amused from the sight.

"Sooo,..." He started, pointing at the tiny figure still hiding behind his feet "…what did he do this time?"

Looks like she didn't even notice their arrival as she from glaring at Marin turned sharply towards Natsu with confused stare, which vanished after she deciphered Natsu's question and switched into her rage mode once again.

"This stupid bug here,…" she started, venom dripping from her voice, glaring at poor Marin while clenching her fists at her sides, desperately trying to calm down. "…destroyed my favourite shop! Where am I gonna buy my sweets now?!" she yelled, and both dragon slayers had to cover their ears because they felt like they were going to burst from the very loud screams.

"Geez, calm down, it's just sweets." Natsu tried and withdrew his hands from his ears, assuming it was safe to let himself hear again.

"Just sweets?! Those aren't just sweets! They are everything! Magic for wizards, food for animals, gas for vehicles-…"

"Alright, I think we got the message" Zeref interrupted her ranting, before either of them could go crazy.

"But-!" she wanted to object.

"Worry not, I will make sure he is punished accordingly, and the shop restored." The ex-dark mage exclaimed, making at least some of Brandish's rage disappear.

But Marin flinched and tried to cover himself with the fabric that Natsu's pants were made of as he wanted not to be seen.

Well, too bad, you can't quite hide from the Emperor, especially when you entrusted your well being to his younger brother.

"Now, now, don't try to escape it, there's no way." Natsu said with a little too much calm and pleased voice, as he picked Marin up from behind him with his two fingers and put him on Brandish's already extended hand, leaving him to his doom.

And with a single wave, the trio continued in their previous little trip to the main hall through the large castle.

But when they finally arrived, they were surprised when they say no one in there.

"Did we miss something?" Natsu raised a question in complete confusion, but he didn't have the chance to even look for answer from his brother as someone tackled him to the ground seconds after his entering through the doors.

"Natsu! Natsu!" the ball of massive destruction –or maybe just Natsu's- yelled.

"Whoa, slow down there little buddy." Natsu tried to get the little human body with similar hair to his -except with blue color- off of him.

And after few struggles, he finally did, but he had to cough a few times so he could get the damn hair out of his mouth.

"You're finally back! How did it go? How did it go?" Happy asked, expecting positive answer, since the original plan was to ask the guild for help, and the little Exceed believed that Fairy Tail would help them once they knew the truth.

But, registering the agony which started to appear in Natsu's expression, he realized the answer without further questions.

"Oh,…"

"I'm sorry Happy, but I think that if you went back alone and tried to convince them that I forced you to stay, I'm sure they would take you back, and you could go back to her."

Happy was a bit torn at Natsu's suggestion. They were always together no matter what all the way since his very birth.

But all the years he spent with Natsu to train so he would be able to protect Charle,…

…he was even able to have a human form now and control the water attribute thanks to Zeref. Natsu even taught him how to make creatures similar to Lyon's from the water.

No…he shook his head. He did train for Charle, but he powered up so he could stand by Natsu's side as his partner proudly.

"No, I will stay with you!" he proclaimed.

"But-" Natsu wanted to show his disapproval clearly, but the hands on his shoulder from both his sibling and Acnologia told him not to.

Besides, this was Happy's decision, not his, and if his partner wanted to stay, so he will. Natsu was pretty sure that he couldn't make him go away even if he would want to.

The demon couldn't help himself but to hug the human cat, glad that not completely everyone left him because of who he was.

"Thank you."

And it was in that moment that he heard loud cheers from behind the chairs and all kind of colorful lights to illuminate the room, confetti flying across the whole room and a loud "WELCOME HOME" sign being suddenly lifted.

The rest of Alvarez shields, including Brandish and Marin –pretty beaten up, but in his normal heigh at least- were waiting for him, smiles on their faces and even some gifts for both himself and Zeref.

"Welcome back Natsu" Happy whispered to him, and Natsu knew he was crying, but didn't mind as much as the whole group began to circle around him and worry if they did the right thing, but he nodded, assuring them that he was just touched by their kind gesture.

.

.

.

This was it…

…this was where he belonged.

* * *

 **I know its kinda short, but hell this wasnt even supposed to be chapter, it was supposed to be like first paragraph, and it _somehow_ turned into a chapter. **

**(Damn these writing tendencies! :D)**

 **Anyhow! I really dunno when I will update next one, probably at the end of next week, maybe sooner, I will see how it goes with my exams.**

 **The Happy Event!: Its practically that you can ask here present Happy any question about me or the story, and he will answer to you if you bribe him with a *fish* :D**

 **Happy: Aye!**

 **Also! You can give him suggestions for any Dragneel brother moments ideas you got, cause I need a lot of those, and while I got some, its still not enought!**

 ***Hears loud munching***

 **Hey! Is that a fish?**

 **Happy: Aye!**

 **wait...is that mine fish?!**

 **Happy: Aye!**

 **You! Come back here you thieving cat!**

 **See ya next time! Alaer! ;)**


	10. Mavis's Resurrection

**Hahaaa! Finally this chapter done! Sorry I am so late, but had few outings with friends cause next week exams coming, so kinda we were pushing away the stress.**

 **Reminds me, I will probably update at weekend next week too, if not later, as I got it filled with damn quater exams.**

 **Anyhow! Onto your questions!**

 **Shinigami: Acnologia was refering to Natsus real father, not Igneel. And why did he kill Igneel is gonna be explained in this story like 2 chapters from now on if I dont turn again one paragraph into whole chapter :D**

 **Jesse: Im afraid I cant spoil you what kind of relationship these three have yet, as I would have to throw away few chapters if I did that. But what I can tell you, because I will try to say it in this story, but as I am a starter writer need to say it so people would understand what the hell do I write. Acnologia in this story for first chapters feels great admiration and gratitude towards Natsu, however confuses it with love. And Im trying to desribe why and how in this story after I get through the damn introduction already :D (They aint pairing, they aint gonna be doing anything except Acnologia teasing Natsu, so it _doesnt_ count as yaoi, right? RIGHT? :D)**

 **ef07: Im glad my story could make your day better :) yours do the same you know? :D**

 **Writing bunny: Yes, Im going to show their reaction of course...but in next chapter! :D**

 **Now! Happy got a fish and he has to answer to Guest!**

 **What is Natsu's E.N.D. form?**

 **Happy: Aye! The fish was delicious so i will tell ya! He got those sharp horn things coming out of his head! Oh, oh and over the whole right side of his body he got torch marks that look like they are on fire! His eyes turn all red with his pupils looking just like a dragons! His nails grow a little longer and sharper but still look human enough to me! And he got those wings which looks like they are ablaze too!**

 **But...his expression always grows so serious when he is using it...I dun like it at all. How he looks aint all that scary, but the authoritative air around him is very very scary, no one ever dared to talk back to him if he used it!**

 **And thats all!**

 **So now you can go and enjoy your chappiee! Looking forward to your opinions! ;)**

* * *

A dawn welcomed our partying group faster than expected, as the celebration of young prince return spread through whole Alvarez and the citizens threw big festivities along with the castle inhabitants and were allowed onto the king's garden.

Just now when people needed to get their children into beds, the celebrations started to calm down, giving a certain opportunity for our guests of honor to slip away.

They separated at the castle doors, the younger climbing up the large building walls and entering through the opened window of prince's room, while the other casually walked through the main entrance, the door opening instantly before his presence. Each of them gathered certain helpful things – thought no one except them knew what for- and tried to sneak onto their meeting place.

The stairs down were long, especially for both of them as one of the two was way too excited and the older one was anticipating this very moment for years. The area they were supposed to meet at was way beneath the castle, as the sole reason for the Empire construction was Zeref trying to get Mavis from Fairy Tail grasps to revive her, failing miserably after few hits from Fiore's Etherion. He took his lost very badly back then, and barely managed to gather the courage to try once again.

That was until his brother came that day few months ago, and screwed every single one of Zeref's plans.

 _He was having one of his night trips across the whole castle, his inability to sleep driving him extremely bored in his room, and so he took his time remembering every single inch about the place he called home these days. The moon was illuminating the whole room through the glass balcony doors and shining upon his way as he didn't bother to switch the light lacrimas on. He liked the night better, and the fresh air that came with it if he was to choose, not to mention the secret beauty of the moonlight that was avaible to see only at clear nights like this._

 _Then, he noticed through the glass doors a strange orange light aminds the blue, which could be compared to a falling star._

 _And indeed, it was flying closer and closer towards him, to the point he wanted to run out and duck, but in thanks to his curiosity and disbelief he ran onto the balcony instead, expecting to see at least some details of the thing._

 _Shock was way too simple word to be able to describe what he was feeling when he recognized flash of pink in the fire light._

 _Ah wait, he wouldn't like if he called it pink now, would he. What color did he say it was again? Oh right,_ _salmon_ _. His brother was way too interested fish, and Zeref was sure it was that flying and talking cat's influence._

 _Well, back to the main topic, was Natsu planning a suicide? What was he doing in middle of the night at Alvarez quarters? Is he crazy? Zeref needed Natsu to kill him, not Natsu killing himself!_

 _He wanted to shout, to yell, but he could not voice his concern for Natsu, or the curse would activate itself and end this little dance of theirs way too soon._

 _But, when Natsu landed graciously on the fence of the balcony, Zeref found himself unable to move a muscle, or speak. His willpower was strong enough however to keep a calm expression even thought he was a complete mess inside._

" _What are you doing here?" he managed to ask after a while, covering any trace of shock or concern Natsu would be able to find, trying to keep his curse under control._

 _He didn't realize that Natsu could smell with his dragon senses how nervous he was about this fateful encounter._

 _But nothing could prepare him for Natsu's question, and he knew that all of the act he put up until now shattered under that intense gaze, ruining this façade of his that he was building up over 400 years._

" _Who are you?"_

 _Zeref opened his mouth, trying to answer immediately that he was the dark mage everyone feared, everyone despised and dark guilds admired, but found out he was unable to utter a single word. He tried again the process but failed again._

" _Zeref" looks like he was still able to voice out his own name. Good job there brain, true genius for ya._

 _But Natsu looked way too unsatisfied with that kind of answer to Zeref's surprise._

" _Tell me your whole name." he growled dangerously, obviously not in the mood for games and Zeref gulped, suspecting Natsu knew something he shouldn't. He couldn't tell him the answer, he just couldn't! Natsu could hate himself for being his sibling, or worse, he could end up in the same state he did years ago, which resulted to this whole memory erasing in the first place. And Zeref knew he won't be able to bear to see Natsu like that ever again._

 _Yet, despite his best efforts to keep it a secret, he found himself answering as years of loneliness and pain finally caught up to him._

" _Zeref…" tears forming in his eyes as sweet memories of his childhood kept coming back to him, and he couldn't keep them under control along with the quiet sobs, but he forced himself to finish his sentence. He had to, he wanted his brother back, he_ _needed_ _his brother back, Zeref didn't want to be alone, even if it was a selfish thing to do. It was already hard enough to resist the urge to tell him the truth every time Zeref saw him, how could he keep quiet when his brother was now finally demanding the answer, like he always dreamed he will? "…Zeref…"_

" _...Dragneel."_

 _Piercing silence surrounded them and Zeref awaited Natsu's reaction patiently, even thought his heart was beating wildly and he wanted to yell. But he didn't open the book, meaning his brother couldn't have had his memories back and being told that you are over 400 years old sibling of the supposedly most evil villain must be quite scary._

" _Why…" Zeref closed his eyes, expecting cold and harsh words of rejection._

"… _why didn't you say anything sooner?! You! You kept on being all mysterious and shit! And why the hell don't I remember a thing?! Would you even fucking tell me if I didn't have those damned dreams about the past?!" all the accusations hit right Zeref's heart, and he felt more and more guilty and wanted this to just be done and over with._

" _I'm sorry." he managed to whisper through all the pain, his voice sounding raspy and barely audible even for a whisper, but he was sure Natsu heard him._

" _Tell me the truth." Natsu demanded and Zeref really wanted to, but felt utterly exhausted from his crying and the state of his voice didn't make it any easier. He sighted and went back inside for a second, leaving Natsu by himself at the balcony, completely bewildered if the dark mage really just walked out on him. But after a while he came back carrying a book and shoved it towards Natsu._

" _Here, you can either open it and find out the truth, or burn it and forever forget all this ever happened." He said shakily while giving Natsu the book and shooing him to go already, or someone will come and notice him._

 _Natsu was a bit reluctant, but knew if he was find out he couldn't possibly hope to face all Alvarez's shields at once, betting that Zeref wouldn't spare him. He looked carefully at the book in his hand, a book of last Zeref's demon, book Igneel wanted Natsu to bring him, yet not destroy._

 _A book that shouldn't have to do anything with him, and yet…_

„ _You gotta be kidding me…"_

" _It's your choice."_

He had to confess, he didn't expect Natsu to open the book, knowing that if he did burn the book, Natsu would die, this time without resurrection as an option, but he guessed it was better than finding out you aren't who you thought you were the whole time.

He couldn't hide the fact that he was really glad that he did open it.

If it wasn't for him, Zeref would even now search of a way how to end his once miserable life and continued bringing misfortune upon his dearests. Even the Alvarez shields changed for the better, and the once quiet castle has turned into party building in kingdom not planned for war, but all kinds of festivals and celebrations. When Natsu arrived beaten up with Acnologia to whom he was helping standing as he was in way worse shape than Natsu, he still couldn't believe the words he said at that time.

" _I found it!_ he said with that big toothy grin of his, announcing a few seconds after that the apocalypse dragon is gonna live with them from that moment.

His brother was a brilliant light, shining upon them and showing them the right path, as he always was.

And this time, Zeref won't let him go.

* * *

The room they were in was narrow and dark, lit by simple torches. On the floor was a large magic circle drawn with while chalk and filled with unreadable encrypted words. In middle of the circle, a clothed woman body lay.

Zeref stole a glance at his younger brother and upon their eyes meeting they both nodded and came closer.

Natsu went inside the circle, summoning his phoenix by blowing fire into his hands, which formed into the fire bird after few seconds, he stood over the Mavis's body, unsheathing his sword and preparing himself, while the phoenix started to form few tears in his eyes.

The circle served to cleanse the sealing that was done on her when Purihito sealed her in the crystal, while Natsu had the hardest role in this all. He had to plunge the sword near her heart just like he did to his brother, but he mustn't damage it in any way and has to keep the sword steady until it swallowed every single drop of her curse. Then, after carefully and speedily removing the sword, the phoenix tears must heal her wounds before she could bleed out.

Needless to say, both were very nervous about this, and Natsu was afraid that he will screw it up right before his brother, and forever crushing his hopes. Despite the nervousness he was feeling, Natsu kept his hands steady by sheer will. Signaling towards his brother that he was ready, Zeref kneeled at the edge of the circle, and started chanting words that no one except the two of them would understand.

The circle started shining after a while, notifying Natsu that it was time. He plunged the sword into Mavis's chest, careful not to damage anything except the bone, and watched as the swords metallic colour started to change into black once again. The awful smell of blood made him want to throw up, but hearing his brother's chanting he pushed the urge back to his mind, concentrating onto his task.

Seconds passed for him like hours, maybe even damn days, not like you could see in this dark place the time. But finally the sword seemed to stop getting darker and darker, and Natsu glimpsed at his phoenix, assuring himself that the tears were ready. The tiny fire bird bent his head towards the wound as much as the sword allowed, his tears on the brink of falling. Seeing that everything was ready, Natsu pulled out fast the sword, and the bird started shedding his tears which mixed with the blood which was flowing incredibly fast from the wound.

By now the chanting stopped, and all of them was staring at the scene with their breaths held.

.

.

.

The phoenix finally disappeared, and Natsu came closer and with shaky hands wiped the blood off of the wound. He finally released his breath in relief seeing the wound was healed, but still he didn't know if she was actually alive. Fearful, he reached out his hand to feel the pulse on her neck, his brother coming to kneel at hers other side, waiting for Natsu's verdict.

Natsu closed his eyes in concetration, so he would be able to feel it no matter how weak it was.

.

.

Faint, but it was there. He cracked a smile, looking at his brother whom had by now tears in his eyes that he finally managed to achieve his goal, and they both grinned like idiots.

Satisfied with their result, they calmed down and brought now cured Mavis to one of the best castle rooms.

* * *

She never thought opening eyes would be this hard, she felt utterly exhausted and confused about what happened. She was a ghost, she shouldn't feel pain, nor exhaustion, nothing.

But when she finally managed to open her eyes, she closed them fast, as the light was way too bright for her. But after a while, out of curiosity that she was known for she tried again, this time letting her eyes adjust despite the pain. And was surprised that she saw a white ceiling, was she lying somewhere? Turning her head to the opened window that was located next to the bed she was lying in, she saw bloomed trees, with leafs rustling in the autumn wind that she could feel. A bird flew to the window, and she extended her head from below the bedsheets, thinking that the bird couldn't see her so it wouldn't flinch, even though her hands would go right through him.

But she was surprised when it flew away and when she let her hand fall, it didn't go through any item that it accidentally touched.

"Huh?" she brought both of her hands up to her face, examining them to see what changed. Now she realized, how come the bedsheets didn't go right through her? How come she could actually lie on the bed?

She jumped into sitting position, throwing the blankets off of her, looking up her whole body. She was now wearing a simple light pink short skirt with a white top which had red bow at the collar with the strings going across her chest.

She was completely confused about what was happening. Was this a dream?

She heard a chuckle and made a sharp turn of the head towards while blushing that someone could see her in her confused state.

"Welcome back" Natsu said, but where was she? Why was he here? Why could she touch things?

Recognizing the look on her face, he thought that it would be good to start explaining.

"You are back amongst the living, without your curse now. Congratulations!"

She just tilted her head and looked at him as if he grew another three heads.

"Hey! It's true, me and Zeref brought you back."

"You and Zeref?" she asked warily, wondering in which kind of position she exactly was here.

"Aye, don't worry though, you ain't prisoner or anything. You are free to go to Fairy Tail if you wish."

She doubted that. "Where are we then? Is this no Fairy Tail?"

His expression suddenly became serious, and she shivered from his gaze, confused about this whole event.

"No, you aren't, I stole the Lumen Histoire from Fairy Tail, and now we are at Alvarez, in it's castle to be precise."

"But I'm free to go back?"

"Yes, but…"

She knew there was going to be more, what did they want her for? What did Zeref want from her after all this time?

"I know it's a lot to ask of you…but…could you…"

Natsu was asking for a favor? What happened? She was so confused… and the fact that he did kneel right now before her didn't help her situation much.

"I know it's too much to ask for, but before your leave, could you please talk to him? Even if it's words of rejection, even if those words are cruel, please talk to him. He wanted to do this the whole time, the curse making him unable to do it the right way, but right now he is afraid to even come close to you, thinking he doesn't deserve another chance."

Another chance…without their curses…they could talk just like normal acquaintances, without the threats of war. She smiled and jumped from the bed cheerfully, smilling gently at Natsu, having her hands folded behind her back.

"Where is he?"

He cracked a smile too, thankful for her decision, but words of thanks could come later, right now he needed those two to talk it out, and so he pointed in the direction of doors which led away from the room. He told Zeref that he will leave alone once she wakes up, so he was standing behind the doors waiting for Natsu to tell him how is she and if she left yet.

It's gonna be a real surprise for him when she is gonna be the one walking through the door.

He looked up at her, noticing her excitement as she practically ran out of the door with smile on her face.

He really hoped those two will finally get it through their stubborn heads that even after those 100 years they are still in love with each other.

And he would help them realize that there were no obstacles anymore.

* * *

When the sun started to set, and the mix of their voices could still be heard behind the door with occasional laugh, Natsu started to grow irritated that they were leaving him out of all the fun, but he knew he had to give them time.

When it got dark already however, he just wanted to bang his head against the damn door, telling them to open it and let him free from this damn room, he got bored!

He completely forgot there was opened window which could be used as emergency escape.

He went to the door, wanting to rip them off of the damn metal handles, but once he got closer, the room slammed right into his face and he fell to the floor while holding his nose, for a while thinking it was broken.

He growled and looked at who did this to him, and saw his brother and Mavis standing above him with worried looks on their faces. His brother extended his hands towards him and Natsu took it, pulling himself up.

"Zo, Finay evelything done?" The two looked at him confusedly, and he couldn't believe how stupid he sounded, he did move the damn bone with his hand of his nose so he could talk normally again.

"So, finally you are done?" he asked again, this time sounding like a normal person.

They both nodded.

"Good, so now I can take you back to Fairy Tail, are you ready?" he started going towards the window, suddenly realizing he could use that all along.

Where did his habit of going through windows instead of door go when he needed it the most?

However, he stopped as he didn't hear anyone follow him and turned around.

"Actually I'm staying." she announced, and Natsu looked with his eyes wide at Zeref, hoping this was a joke. But he just gave him an apologetic smile.

Natsu officialy lost it and fainted. The two running towards him, kneeling at his side, Zeref calling his name and shaking his shoulders while Mavis just panicked and tried to wave with her shirt so he would be able to get more air into his lungs.

 _Makarov's gonna kill me._

* * *

 **And thats the end of this chapter! I tried to make it long enought as you guys wanted, but it always depends on what the chapter is about ya know? Sometimes I got many things to write in there and sometimes I struggle to make even 2 thousand words :D**

 **But well, I hope you enjoyed it, Im really sorry for any grammar mistakes I made in this one as Im sure there is way too many than before because I was hesitating about how to phrase few sentences way too much :D**

 **See ya later guys!**

 **Alaeriii! :)**


	11. Last Bond

**You want angst?**

 **YEA!**

 **You want Gray?**

 **YEA!**

 **You want longer chapter?**

 **YEA!**

 **FINE! GEEZ! BEING GREEDY HUH! :D**

 **Jesse: Well, there is gonna be more background story about Natsu and Zeref (and Acnologia), but Im gonna say like one or two things only about their parents since they dont play really big role in this, well his father kinda plays role with Acnologia but thats for later.**

 **ef07: No Zervis aint right off of the bat, they are gonna have to work until their relationship get romantic, and with Natsu and Acnologia playing as matchmakers...yea its gonna take like half of the story :D**

 **RyuuFuyuuScarlet: Ofc, this IS a LIGHT Gratsu story! :D Youre welcome :D**

 **LadyFire-Azula: Thanks for the idea! :D**

 **Otherwise, thank you all for your praises and support! It really means a lot to me, each time new follow or favourite or review appears, you dont know just how much it means to me T.T**

 **Well, Here is your chapter, hope you enjoy it! :D**

* * *

His head hurt like if someone hit it with a metal wracking ball when he finally came to, and the panic shouts from both, his brother and his soon to be girlfriend that echoed through the hall made his already bad headache even worse.

"I'm fine" he said with a little harsher voice than he previously intended to and sat up, causing both of them to shut up and look at him with relieved looks on their faces.

"You're awake!" Zeref and Mavis shouted in unison, and Natsu held his head in his hands to calm the pain at least a little bit.

This was one of the times he wished he wouldn't have such a good hearing.

"Please, stop yelling, my head already awfully hurts" plus he was tired too, kinda exhausted actually, but there was way too much trouble ahead for him to go rest just yet, so he had to solve that first.

"So, what made you stay?" Natsu asked, not so sure about this, and he was reluctant to fight Fairy Tail for one rushed decision of a little girl. He planned to give her back as soon as possible, because without her the guild for sure would come here and look for her.

"Well,…let's say I want to get to know this Zeref, without the curse, a little more…" she confessed shyly, looking at the ground with faint pink painting her cheeks from embarrassment, while playing with her hands to distract herself.

"And if you decide he is not your liking? Am I supposed to fight Fairy Tail, which will come looking for you here, just because you can't decide?" he needed to assure himself, he was in delicate situation here and couldn't risk much, especially when his brother was involved. He was already through a lot, he didn't need his ex-girlfriend to send him mixed signals too. That's why Natsu needed her to decide now.

But Mavis looked confused at his question.

"Why would we fight them? We can just tell them the truth!" she announced, but as soon as the words left her mouth she jumped back a little when Natsu stood up from his sitting position on the floor, where he collapsed earlier, with inhuman speed. When she looked at him to see what caused such reaction, she was surprised to not see him just angry, but completely enraged.

"No! We mustn't!" he shouted and looked straight into Mavis's eyes, sighting and calming down fast when he saw a glimpse of fear in her eyes. He ran one of his hands through his salmon hair and thought on how to crush her hopes gently.

"We can't, even if they believed us, Fairy Tail wouldn't make it from all the troubles it already got, along with this one. Just imagine it, the black mage Zeref, 400 year old legend about death itself, is now part of Fairy Tail? Do you want to ruin the guild you sacrificed so much for? You can't just break old legends and 400 year old hatred by simply _saying_ it was different. And I'm pretty sure that the Magic Council wouldn't take it well either, and as sure as hell, I ain't going back _there._ Not now, not ever!" he finished in louder voice than he started, being out of breath and gasping for air, his face red from anger and he could see Mavis on the verge of tears.

"But-"

"No buts" a deeper voice gently interrupted her, and glancing at her side she saw Zeref with serious expression on his face.

"But-" she tried again, hoping at least the dark mage would be on her side in this one. Fairy Tail would understand, Magic Council for sure too, and barely their guild members knew his appearance, why would normal people know it? They could just say he was named Zeref cause of some tragedy or whatever!

This time no one interrupted her, but her voice betrayed her when he looked at her and shook his head in disapprovement.

Mavis didn't understand why they rather kept it secret than telling the truth and get help. She saw hurt in their eyes, she knew this kind of isolation hurt both of them, as both boys had to leave the things that were most precious to them.

But Zeref knew very well why…

…he hadn't told Mavis yet…

.

.

…the darker side of their past.

The one where they were used as laboratory rats for previous Council…

The one where Natsu saw and suffered something a child shouldn't even be aware of…

The time when Natsu had to do something a 7 year old child should have never done, even if it was for his family's sake…

…and that's why Zeref went against Mavis even though he didn't want to…

…because he wasn't the one who suffered the most at that time, Natsu was. And he still felt immensely guilty about that fact…

…he was the elder brother…

…he should have been the one protecting Natsu...

…and yet, it was always Natsu who saved him.

That's why he let Natsu decide this, because he was the one suffering, and Zeref couldn't possibly put him through that nightmare ever again, even if the chances were low.

Mavis pouted and was angry, cause of the stupid stubbornness of the two brothers. She curled her hands into fists and stomped away into the large castle halls, leaving the two alone in complete silence.

Natsu didn't like that their relationship was starting off with an argument over him, but what was he supposed to do? He _couldn't_ go back, he had _nowhere_ to go back.

He was the demon that was indirectly responsible for Erza's slavery, for Gray's parent's death, for Ur's death!

Hell, he _was_ responsible for Mavis death, and for his brother curse.

If he just didn't die that day…

…or maybe…

.

.

.

…if he just wasn't born at all…

He went towards the window and harshly opened it, feeling that he was in the mood to break any second into cries. He needed to sort out his thoughts, and he couldn't do that here with seeing the hurt in his brother's expression. Jumping out, landing safely onto the phoenix enormous body that flew by from somewhere just in time, he flew away, leaving Zeref all alone in the room.

Zeref just stood at the same place the whole time, feeling guilty that he just denied Mavis, and yet feeling guilty that he couldn't help his brother in any way.

After all, this wasn't about Zeref anymore, this was about Natsu putting up trust in people again, and _no one_ could force him to do that.

* * *

Makarov was confused and didn't know what to do for the first time in his entire life.

He desperately believed Natsu had a plan, considering Fairy Heart wasn't fired yet and no war announcements came from Alvarez. But just what kind of plan? And why he didn't say anything?

Or…

Could it be that Natsu became weapon for Zeref that was even greater than Lumen Histoire? Considering it couldn't be controlled…Being E.N.D. and all, maybe the Natsu he knew was long gone, or just playing a part in this cruel game of Zeref's.

Maybe he was possessed since the beginning, or he was a real damned demon that just used them until Makarov told someone about it?

Then again, wouldn't it make more sense if he stole it while no one from the guild knew about it? It would surely cause distrust and could buy Zeref some time.

He buried his head in his hand, sitting alone on a chair in his lonely office, which was filled with opened books all over the ground and incredible mess everywhere.

This kind of thinking got him a serious headache, and he was way too old for this by now.

In any way, he needed to confront Natsu and take First Master back, before Zeref decided to change his mind.

He sighted.

It was time for Fairy Tail to battle on of it's own.

* * *

The guild was silent since Natsu's depart. No one dared to utter a single word, unless they wanted to order something at the bar. The lack of the dragon slayer's happy mood and his loud voice devastated them all, knowing they won't hear it ever again.

Jet and Droy just sat alone at the table in silence the whole time, because Levy was sent on secret mission in the Council from the Master.

Cana was drinking with random people just a single cup of beer whole day.

Romeo couldn't believe it and locked himself in his room with Macao and Wakaba constantly trying to get him out.

Master shut himself up in the second floor in his office and had yet to leave the tiny room.

And Team Natsu?

Saying they were devastated was pretty weak word.

Gray didn't show up at the guild since his argument with Master, which no one knew what it was about as Master refused to speak about it every time they asked him and no one dared to approach the ice-mages house.

Erza haven't even touched her cake from the second Mirajane put it on the table right before her, but no one was sure if she even payed enough attention to notice it. Sometimes sje crashed into random wooden pillars in their guild as she was with her mind completely in the clouds.

Lucy was the only one who wasn't broken. Sure, she looked worried, but not broken. She believed in Natsu the most and was expecting him to barge through the large guild doors every second with his proud grin and defeated Zeref over his shoulder.

That's why she always stayed at the same table since the guild opening to it's closing hours, and they wondered if she even slept sometimes, but the bags under her eyes told them the answer.

Suddenly, amids the silence, a loud steps from the floor above them could be heard, catching everyone attention and looking up at the source.

From the shadows, a small figure, which they haven't seen in a while started appearing, making the tension in the already think and silenced guild grow.

"Listen brats!" the Master yelled after climbing carefully –and with some trouble- up at the fence of second floor, looking down at all the expectant faces which were practically screaming at him questions about what to do. "I know how you all feel, considering latest events…" he glanced at Lucy, who was looking at him like he's going to say that they finally found the real Natsu.

…well, she wasn't exactly wrong.

"…but, we must not let it get to us, we are Fairy Tail, a guild that so far surpassed every obstacle that has been thrown at us…" mostly thanks to Natsu, but he couldn't say that, not now "…and so we will deal with this like we've always dealt with troubles before." He took a deep breath.

"We are going to Alvarez to get back our First Master and if possible, capture Natsu Dragneel."

He finished, waiting for everyone's reaction, but no one looked him in the eye.

…because no one truly wished to go…

…no one wished to see their illusions broken…

…no one wanted to see Natsu as their enemy.

Seeing the guild's lack of motivation, Makarov sighted once again, he knew that Natsu was the guild's heart, but he hoped that would be also the reason why they would want to get him back.

But then, Lucy stood up, barely able to stand straight as her head started spinning from such rushed action after almost three sleepless days and nights with not many bites of food. But even so, she still managed to climb onto the table she always sat at and shout out loudly.

"That's right! We gonna get back our Master and Natsu, and then kick his ass for leaving us out of his plans! C'mon, get your heads up! This guild was here even before Natsu joined, and when I entered it was so full of life even while Natsu was on a job with me, and destroyed half of Hargeon, so we can get through this!" she knew her words weren't much encouraging, as she wasn't exactly cheering type of a person, Natsu always was the one with the strong words, but as she saw the usual spark getting back into her guildmates eyes, she couldn't be happier that she at least tried.

A loud "Yeah!" and "We gonna kick their asses!" could be heard across the whole guild, while a kind of party started, without breaking tables as the trouble duo was missing, but still enough beer got spilled everywhere, and the competitions with Cana that some people in good mood started were good for getting the mood up.

Makarov was proud of his children, and already called for a ship to be prepared, while Erza stood up too, finally back to earth as they saw the many plates of eaten cake, and announced that she was going to get Gray.

No one dared to stop her, as well as no one dared to go with her, since no one wanted to see the ice mage in his bad mood cause they saw how it turned out in his and Natsu's fights every time one of them was seriously pissed off, and it wasn't nice. They all agreed that they will meet up at the port in an hour, hopefully with calmed down Gray as Erza was always able to knock some sense into the guy, and prepared their best techniques and strategies on how to get to Alvarez without getting much attention and possibly meet Natsu before anyone else.

Everyone was either cheering now or hurrying home, In Master's case preparing the ship and getting some things from the guild that he wouldn't be happy to be lost in his absence. Wendy even ran towards Romeo home to tell him that they were going, but as soon as she arrived she found out that indeed, he wanted to join, but from all the staying at home away from sun, he got sick, and so Macao and Wakaba was taking care of him.

She knew she wouldn't be much of an use in real battle, and decided that she will stay here with them, if something possibly got worse. Macao thanked her, knowing that he was exhausted from running here and there with wet towels and ice, completely aware that his fire magic couldn't help his son at all.

* * *

Arriving at the port in one hour was a bad idea, and they all knew that by now, everyone that spent more time on the celebration were running late and was a bit drunk too, but now, two hours after the actual meeting, people still waited for the two people, Erza and Gray.

Where were they? If they were having a making out session in his house or if it really was that hard even for Erza to calm him down no one knew, and they already started making bets at Cana about what happened that they were taking so long.

But, when Erza finally emerged from the crowd at the port, they were surprised to see her alone with simple opened envelope clenched in her hand.

And of course, a big carriage with all kinds of things she towed right behind her too, and no one figured out how the hell did she manage to drag that across half the town single-handedly while having to get through all the people around, even in the smallest streets that she was sure to cross.

But no one questioned with one simple answer in their minds _…"She's Erza…"_

Everyone stared at her, waiting for explanation on why is she alone after three hours of waiting.

But she just shook her head and stopped in middle of the guild crowd that was waiting for an answer. "He won't come" was all she said and handled Master the letter.

He wasn't sure at first, but after seeing her serious expression and her nod, he started reading quietly, so no one would hear him.

" _I_ ' _m sorry Gramps,_

 _but I got a promise to fulfill._

 _Gray Fullbuster"_

Simple and short, but even those few words from Gray made him worried that something bad was about to happen to Natsu before he even reached him.

He hurried everyone onto the ship and tried to depart as soon as possible, hoping he won't be too late.

He was walking through a thick forest near the shore, sure that no one would come after him here. He called off his phoenix and just wandered around without really paying attention to his direction, just wanting to be covered by the shadow of the trees.

He wanted to apologize to Mavis that he was so harsh on her, but he couldn't go back, as well as his brother couldn't. They weren't ones for using fake names, and he was sure that the whole ordeal about him and Zeref was already spread across the whole Fiore.

She has got to decide, just as he had to.

 _He went home after his secret meeting with the dark mage, carefully holding the book of E.N.D. with him, still not understanding Zeref at all._

 _Tartaros said that the seal on that book was one that couldn't be opened, so they made out a plan about erasing the magic from the whole word. Igneel told him to not destroy the book at any chance, but to not open it either._

 _If you opened it, it was said that the most evil demon would come out, was Zeref having him for a fool? Natsu was sometimes dumb and oblivious, but not this much, he knew the legends about 400 year old mage that was creating demons with E.N.D. as a masterpiece. Seeing how Tartaros and Zeref acted, this demon couldn't be much different. Why they tried so desperately to revive him anyway? Mard Geer said something about Memento Mori being a tactic he devised against Zeref, that their goal was to kill off Zeref, there was already enough of them without E.N.D., why wouldn't they do it alone? How were they so sure that this demon wouldn't just kill them off all and then go after Zeref alone?_

 _Zeref without hesitation destroyed Mard Geer's book, so why they still believed in something like companionship? True, few of them sacrificed their power for their goal, but that was just insane, who would give up a life for something like that?_

 _He just tossed the book into the depths of his wardrobe and didn't care about it, as long as Zeref didn't have it, it was good. He could give it to Gray, but Igneel told him to not destroy it, which Gray would surely do._

 _But Igneel wasn't here anymore to take the book, what did he want with it anyway? Why were everyone interested in this pack of tied up together papers?_

 _He fell onto his hammock comfortably, hands folded behind his head, he didn't like thinking, it made his head hurt, and after the sleepless nights he was having because of the dark mage, he wasn't even in the mood._

 _He rolled on his side, facing the window, and closed his eyes, he wanted to rest._

 _It took a whole week for his curiosity to finally kick in, and take the book from the wardrobe. Gray said it was a fire demon, so Natsu shouldn't have any problem to be beating it up, and he wanted to know at least something of his past, cause the dreams suddenly stopped since the book arrived and he was getting frustrated that he wasn't given any more clues._

 _Or maybe Zeref just toyed with him so he would open the book._

 _He made sure no one was home at the time, as Happy was busy fishing with Wendy, Gajeel, Lily and Charle. He took the book and put it on his table, sitting at the small coach that was beside it. Natsu was looking at it for half an hour for sure, but finally he couldn't take it anymore because he was getting stiff from the sitting on one place all the time._

 _He grabbed the first part of the cover, and with heavy exhalation he opened it._

 _He gasped when brilliant white light suddenly surrounded the book suddenly as the cover page touched his table, and he had to close his eyes with one hand before them to make sure he didn't go blind. When he finally felt like there was nothing more he opened his eyes and noticed the two fire magic circles above and below him._

 _He tried to move away, logically. But he found out that he couldn't move out of the two circles reach. He tried to bang the invisible wall with his fist and get out, but to no avail._

 _For a while he thought that there wasn't any demon at all and this was just a death trap, but as his head started hurting as many images about him and Zeref plus some people he didn't recognize yet filled his mind._

 _His nails were growing longer, but still in human shape, he felt like his right side was going to burn as orange shining torch marks started appearing all the way from his face down to his feet. He felt something grow out of the side of his head just above his ear and his sandals tore apart under the sudden pressure._

 _His brain, his body, everything hurt, it was like he was being stabbed with thousands of needles all over, he was breathing heavily, occasionally holding his breath when the pain was just too much, and the worst was his back. Something what shouldn't be there was moving and wanted out, and he let out a pained cry as it tore through his skin, sputtering blood over the floor leaving Natsu gasping for air and falling to his knees as he saw just dark for a second._

 _He looked at his hands, knowing what he will see but still scared._

 _He remembered, and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing…_

 _He remembered his life 400 year ago, his parents, his brother…_

… _even Acnologia was there, when he was still human._

 _He remembered his death and his revival, but the worst of all…_

… _he remembered that he indeed murdered someone. That he lost way too much, that he was hunted with his brother for his power, that he was responsible by just his presence for way too many deaths…_

" _No…no…." he started backing down until his back made loud impact with wall, tears falling wildly from his eyes. "No…" he buried his head in his hands, silently crying._

 _He lived because of his brother's sacrifice, he was having a happy life while his brother was suffering alone, for 400 years no less._

 _And the reason why they weren't together…why Zeref erased his memory in the first place…was his fault too._

 _He was a disgusting demon indeed._

He did decide that he would open the book that time, even if he had to battle the demon to his death, and then he decided that even if he was going against the whole world, he will stay at his brother's side forever.

Even if it meant abandoning everything he ever loved, he was going to stay by his side, and follow him even to the depths of hell, if needed to.

Snapping out of his daydreams, Natsu noticed it was already dark, and decided to head back home, but after a while of walking he noticed rustling of the leafs that was way too loud for a forest animal.

"Who's there?!" he yelled into nothing, preparing himself for a fight.

He didn't expect half of Fairy Tail guild emerge from the bushes thought. He was at a loss of words, and could just watch them with wide eyes and opened mouth as they were coming closer to him.

But he still had enough sense to back away when they got too close.

"Natsu…" Oh shit, that was Gramps…

He kind of forgot that he took Lumen Histoire…hehe…whoops.

Don't kill me please? Won't work…okay he was officially screwed here. He gulped and started sweating, aware of what exactly Makarov's rage consisted of.

But, he couldn't let himself be defeated here, he concentrated on their stance, looking if someone was looking for fight, preparing himself for fast dodge or counterattack.

"I'm very disappointed in you my child,…" oh great, this was the last thing Natsu needed.

"Just get on with it."

"Did you not believe in your family enough to tell us your plans? Did you not believed that we shall back you up?" Makarov looked at him with enraged expression and Natsu gasped, out of all the accusations he expected to come from his mouth, he didn't think that they would still believe in him. He smiled a little, tears forming in his eyes, but he couldn't let them see. Looking behind Gramps he saw half of the guild members looking at him with hurt expression, but they looked like they also believed in him and was waiting for his confession.

And for a second there, he wanted to tell them everything, he wanted to keep going on jobs with everyone, but reminding of his burned house, and Gray's words…

" _Demons like that don't exist"_

He couldn't. He closed his mouth again, and changed his expression into serious one. He almost lost his act there, Gramps was really good at seeing into people's hearts.

But not this time, he won't let himself be swallowed by his kindness. Not anymore.

He didn't deserve it.

And for a second he dared to forget that fact.

"It's not about believing in you or not, I'm not doing this for Fairy Tail, I'm doing this for myself…" Natsu raised his hand towards them, which started transforming as well as the rest of his body into his Ethelious form, much to bewilderment of the guild members and Makarov. "…I already told my team, that I ain't going back, I'm E.N.D. and Zeref's younger brother dammit! I _don't_ want go with you! This is my choice, I will stay by Zeref's side even if he decided to wage a war against Fiore again!"

They gasped at seeing horns and wings popping out of his body, his eyes turning from emerald green to bright red as his pupils turned to one of demon's, or even dragon's. The scorching marks covering his right side adding to his scary appearance and his serious and battle face he always showed towards his enemies that threatened the guild making them freeze at the spot.

"Then I have no choice…" Makarov said, while putting his hands before him, casting a bright yellow light in between them.

"It is Fairy Tail tradition to count into three before casting this spell, so prepare yourself, Natsu!" he shouted as the magical energy began swirling towards him, causing the ground to shake and creating high pressure around him.

"One…" all members looked at him completely shocked, but they couldn't move from their spot yet as they still haven't recovered from the information about Natsu being a real Zeref's demon. But they also couldn't believe that he would actually use that!

"Two…" but Natsu just looked at him apathetically, heightening his head as if to look down upon them, seeing the magic as something low.

Well he would be shown soon enough was what Makarov thought.

"Three!" he shouted, an enormous magic circle appearing above their heads while the sky was filled with yellow light and the tension started rising incredibly.

"Fairy…Law!" he said while putting his hands together, cutting through the built up tension and relieving all the magic power that gathered in the meantime at that place, aiming straight at Natsu that just stood there proudly like if he was going to hit him with a firefly.

The light shone upon them all and they had to cover their eyes, imagining about the things that could have happened to Natsu with that Magic casted on him.

And when the light started disappearing, they could see a figure which was in Natsu's exact heigh standing right before them.

But they were all surprised when he was unscatched.

"Wha-…but I-! Makarov wanted to protest, he _did_ everything right, even if he didn't think about Natsu as enemy, it still should affect at least his magic power, but he has seen no change in that either.

"My curse…"Natsu started, while his horns started glowing in yellow like light. "…is that I can absorb any magic thrown at me and use it as my own"

Makarov eyes widened, realizing what trouble he got himself into as Natsu copied his actions from before and yellow light started to appear in between his hands, with insane magic power swirling around him.

This could probably drain them all without even having to think about them as enemies, which was scary, and he suddenly found out how big of a mistake he just made.

"Fairy….-" Natsu started saying, but was interrupted when something –or rather someone- tackled him onto the ground.

"Nooooooo!" They heard a girl voice call, and wondered if Natsu found a girlfriend while being in Alvarez, but couldn't believe their eyes as they saw Mavis standing before them in material body.

What the actual hell?

"First Master…" Makarov muttered under his breath, unable to believe her presence.

And that she just stopped Natsu like it was nothing.

The two of them stood up and started arguing.

"What the hell are you doing here?! You ain't supposed to wander so far from castle alone!" Natsu yelled, aware that his brother will be added up to the list of people that wants to kill him these days.

The reason being again Mavis…this girl is gonna be the END of him…

…haha, got that? END!

.

.

…oh god…he was making up jokes in his own mind, he was in it way too deep now wasn't he?

"We were worried about you! You left in the morning and now the sun has already started setting! Do you know how long it took for me to find you you dumbass?!" she yelled at him, punching his head with her tiny fists at an incredible speed, yet with almost no strength at all.

"Can't you see that I'm in middle of something here?!"

She stopped her actions and looked around, seeing Fairy Tail she grinned and waved her hand.

"Hi!"

Natsu sweatdropped and almost fell back to the ground as Fairy Tail dumbly waved their hands back at her.

Couldn't she read the situation at least a little?

She ran towards Makarov and hugged him.

"Wha- what happened to you First?" he asked, still a bit shaken by that she _could_ hug him and was running around here wild and _alive_.

"I was revived by Natsu and Zeref! Isn't it awesome? And I don't have the curse anymore too!" she bounced from one guild member to another, taking in their features and touching every bit of interesting clothes they ever got, making Natsu facepalm, knowing his act was put to ruins just by that.

She skipped Erza's armor, just to be sure.

Makarov looked suspiciously at Natsu, was that their plan all along?

"In exchange for…?" he still found it suspicious after what Natsu said.

"Nothing! Completely nothing!" she laughed, going back to Natsu's side when she was finished with inspecting every guild member and their clothes.

"Then, come back to us, we are all worried abo-"

"No" she said simply, cutting his question before he could even finish it.

"Huh?" they all looked at her in confusion, even Natsu tilted his head at her, signaling he didn't understand her actions at all.

"I'm staying" she said, pulling out her tongue childish and tugging Natsu by hand to go away, who just obliged being unable to move on his own as well as the whole guild that gathered there from their shock.

* * *

After he got scolded by Zeref that he took too long and handed him Mavis, whom was excitedly bouncing that she got to meet Fairy Tail (his brother still wanted to punish him for that, so he made the ball coming in earlier with guards everywhere so Natsu won't have the chance to escape).

Aaah hell, this time he warned them that he will go out for like two hours, just to check their scent to see if they left or not. He kinda didn't check what happened after Mavis declaration of staying with them.

But he couldn't help the smile that tugged at his lips while in his mind was sentence _"Ha! Suck on that Gramps! I'm better!"_ playing over and over again.

But, on his way he caught a different scent, one that he wasn't sure he wanted to follow, but did anyway, because even this was part of the issue, and he had to face it sooner or later.

Following the snowy scent, he found a little campfire for one person, and sitting near the fire was one raven haired ice mage that he certainly did not want to see yet, but didn't have any other choice, as he was already noticed by the devil slayer.

"Hey" Natsu greeted, making Gray immediately jump and get into fighting position.

"Hey." Gray copied, only saying the word in much more venom like voice, making his intentions about being here very clear.

It did hurt Natsu a lot, as they were practically always bickering brothers year before, but he couldn't let that faze him now.

He knew this would happen the second he got the book into his damn house, a fight over that demon.

A fight over his life.

Gray didn't waste a second and launched attack on Natsu, starting with his Ice-Make: Freeze Lancer, making lances made of ice that once fired attack the target from different directions.

But Natsu easily dodged it by jumping lightly in the air and few feet back.

"You don't know how long I waited for this moment!" Gray shouts. "Ice-Make: Arrow!" After crafting a bow from ice, he forms multiple arrows from both of his hands, making Natsu unable to dodge this time.

But he simply lit his body on fire making the ice turn into steam once it got closer to him, creating a little fog in which he disappeared, but instead of taking the chance for surprise attack he simply jumped on one of the trees above, inspecting Gray with curious eyes.

Gray swiftly turned his head upwards, feeling heated presence in there. "Why aren't you fighting back?! You better not underestimate me! Ice-Make: Ice Cannon!" he created a cannon in his hands that shot blue beam towards the place where Natsu was, only for him to jump upwards, making a flip in the air while safely landing behind Gray and hitting him with a strong punch that made him fly through few trees.

"Tsk, take this seriously dammit!" he got up after making a harsh impact with a rock that finally stopped his flying.

Natsu gulped, he didn't want to make this serious fight, but there was no other way.

One of them had to fall, and he wasn't going to be the one.

Eyes changing into red ones, looking extremely threatening even to Gray, he changed into his Ethelious form.

But he wasn't going to let simple looks get into him, his Devil-Slayer magic worked before on Mard Geer easily, E.N.D. couldn't be much different.

Oh how wrong he was.

"Ice Devil's Rage!" he shouted, aiming towards Natsu and spilling ice out of his mouth.

But he forgot what happened when they were fighting that dark guild's leader, and that it was revealed Natsu was the one, whom with his _bare_ hand completely obliterated their combinated attacks into pure nothing.

And that's exactly what he did this time too, simply waved his hand as if to cut to beam in half, obliterating it and suddenly appearing behind Gray. How did he get there he will never know, but when he looked behind himself he could already see Natsu having a fire dragon claw around his hand ready to punch him.

And he did, causing Gray to fall back into that stupid rock again. Then, like a predator seeing his prey, Natsu walked slowly towards Gray with his ruby eyes shining brightly, and stopped few feet before him.

Gray hated to admit it, but he had hard time moving already, but managed to stand up after holding onto the damn rock, facing him with his own expression.

But it wasn't equal anymore.

And Gray realized that too, so he needed to fall back to devise a strategy later on. "Ice-Make: Floor!" Natsu always fell for that, so he froze the floor all around him, trying to skate fast away, hoping that Natsu will just fall while trying to keep up with him on his own ice.

Or better yet he could melt it.

But as he turned around, he saw Natsu simply standing there, having something similar to Gray's Zeroth bow in his hands, ready to shoot.

" _Shit"_ Gray forgot. When he saw Igneel and Natsu fight together at Tartaros, they had similar attacks. You could say it was the complete same ones just done in different way.

If that was the fact for Dragon-Slayer magic, why couldn't it be the same for Devil-Slayer one?

Shit…shit…shit! He _did_ have an ice bow, and could shoot from it pretty well.

If Natsu could do that too…

Hastily, he tried to change direction so Natsu would miss, but when he saw the giant fire beam aimed towards him he knew that in no way he had enough time to dodge that.

"Ice-Make: Shield!" he tried, but it was forming way too slowly and the beam approaching way too quickly, he couldn't make it, and even if he could, he was sure that it wouldn't hold on for long.

He screamed in blind pain as the fire engulfed him, burning him to the very core and for a while he thought that these were his last moments.

He did see just dark for a while, and his head was awfully spinning, telling him that he doesn't have much time until he falls unconscious, but he didn't give up.

Even though he couldn't move from his lying face to ground position, he looked up with great effort at Natsu that was coming closer to him, even kneeling right before him, right in his reach if he could move his damn body.

But he couldn't.

"Damned bastard! You're not gonna get away with this!" Gray threatened, he will come back for revenge, and one day…

…one day he will kill Natsu with his own hands!

But Natsu just moved his head closer and angled Gray's chin with right hand so they would look eye to eye.

He saw a lot of emotions in those dark, stormy eyes. Betrayal, hate, disgust.

And he knew he deserved all of it.

"Once…we were like brothers weren't we?" Natsu asked, seeing Gray sneer and he was sure that if he could he would spit on him just for saying that. "Our bond was always a strange one…You were always the most important…I had to be better than you no matter what…I had to prove that you were wrong…and yet we were as equal as two people could get."

Gray reminisced about those memories too. Their fights over the simplest things, their silly fights over building castle, their stupid arguments over who's fault it was when they knew they were both at a fault.

But he wouldn't let those leftover feelings get to him. Never again.

"But we aren't equal anymore, and with this win…"Natsu continued, letting his hand fall back at his side and standing up, turning around and leaving Gray in the ruined forest after their battle all alone "I sever that last bond." He walked away, and Gray's willpower finally gave up on him and he falled unconscious.

" _One day…I will let you kill me…but not now…I still got things I want to finish."_

* * *

 ** _LONG AS SHIT HUH?! ARE YOU HAPPY?! :D_**

 ** _THERES ANGST! THERES GRAY! THERES LONG!_**

 ** _:D worked damn 10 hours minimally on it and my lessons :D_**

 ** _well I hope you liked it! see ya in next one!_**

 ** _Alaeriii! :)_**


	12. Gratitude And Admiration

**Hellooooo theere! Im really sorry I took so long, but I had semester exams and was pretty busy, that I had no time to write.**

 **I wanted to let you know somehow, but adding new chapter that would be just saying that I wont write for a while seemed like being asshole to me, so I wrote it on my profile, which I got no idea if someone reads :D**

 **Well, if I happen to not update within a month, you will find details there always! Okay? :)**

 **I should be getting back to my one-two weeks updates, since I got jsut two more tests this week and then its all calm and shiny! :D**

 **Anyhow! your questions!**

 **Writing Bunny: you asking about the timeline cause I made Happy go with Gajeel and Charle right? :D Well, it was supposed to be like Natsu ran out of money and had to go back home for some time, Levy and Gajeel being in the council I decided it was the highest chance of whom he could meet. Gajeel thought it was obvious that Fairy Tail was disbanded, as he was sure everyone were present when Master announced it, while Natsu didnt even think about disbandment as an option, so they never discussed it. I unconsciously added Charle as well tho, so lets just say Levy had a contact information on Wendy, and once she heard about Gajeel going on fishing with Happy, she called her cause Wendy was sure she heard Charle complaining about the blue male cat, letting out the feeling that she missed him and was all tsundere about it! :D**

 **Also, the reason why Makarov and Netsu never met, Natsu wasnt exactly present in the castle for the year, as he was more researching the ways how to get rid of his brothers curse, and lets say that books in local libraries werent enough. He wasnt present unless it was really neccesary.**

 **NightStory: Nope, the book of E.N.D. isnt physically around anymore dear :D It merged with Natsu.**

 **About yours first idea, Natsu remembers his childhood with Zeref, I will have them have some brotherly flashbacks, but Natsu will never ask about that past, as he doesnt believe he is the same person from 400 years ago, because he doesnt believe that Zerefs ressurection was able to bring soul of his brother back.**

 **Second idea...you are close enough, but still far away :D**

 **ef07: No...Gray is an asshole at the beggining, so he doesnt notice ANYONES pain! :D**

 **and Fairy Tail? well...you wont see Fairy Tail nor Gray in next chapter, as Fairy Tail is trying to get over the shock while Gray is recovering from his battle :D**

 **I guess thats all ! :D So here it is!**

* * *

A typical autumn day is what you would call today. Sun was shining weakly through the grey clouds upon the lonely, once-military empire, along with the faint warmth emitting from the sun rays. Leafs were scattered across the whole country as Alvarez was preparing itself for the upcoming winter.

The castle Dragneel -as was renamed upon Natsu's arrival- was however mesmerizing by the calmness surrounding it.

"AAAAH! Help mee Natsuuu!"

…or not?

A loud footsteps were speedily echoing through the large castle hallways as their owner was probably running towards the source of the desperate scream.

The door of the room with the shrieking slammed open, revealing a pink haired shirtless man dressed in tattered black coat that reached his ankles and white baggy pants.

"What?!" the man shouted in panicked voice, gasping loudly for air as he was hurrying all the way down the old stairs from the top floor of the castle.

But he froze completely once he registered the sight of the older raven haired man.

A tick mark appeared on Natsu's forehead and he growled once he realized what was going on.

"You were a _dark mage_ with immortality, you were not hesitating to _wage a war_ against Fiore and you even planned _to lead the army_ …"he kept raising his voice with every word, almost yelling at the poor boy lying on the floor.

"..and you _can_ ' _t_ KILL A FUCKING SPIDER?!" Natsu couldn't refrain himself from shouting anymore, watching his brother lying frozen helplessly on the floor in front of him with spider on his leg, watching it with almost teary eyes, while his body was shaking uncontrollably.

"B-But…!" Zeref protested.

Natsu wasn't one with patience, and becoming a demon with destructive power that he barely managed to control in calm state didn't exactly help his case, so he had to grit his teeth and clench his fist that was already on fire to keep himself from burning the spider _along_ with his stupid brother.

How _he_ became and kept the title of the dark mage for 400 years, Natsu will never know.

He released a breath he didn't realize he was holding and stomped towards the shaking idiot and took the spider into his hand, making his way through the room towards the window and after opening it he threw the small creature far away, as if it was a baseball ball, silently cursing its very existence inside the large building.

He glimpsed towards Zeref, who by now calmed down and was back to his self, wandering around with a book in his hands that appeared out of nowhere, reading it without paying attention to anything or anyone else, and Natsu had to wonder how in the hell he didn't crash into anything yet.

He sweatdropped at the logic behind his brother, if there was one.

Natsu sighted, the dragon slayer was utterly freaked out when he heard Zeref scream his name, asking for help, something he hasn't done yet.

That is, if you don't count his begging for Natsu to end his life, which he refused with no hesitation at all of course.

The fire mage ran a hand through his hair in frustration and went to lie onto the sofa in the main hall, that was located in the middle floor of the building.

Meaning he had to climb the damned stairs again.

Good job there Zeref, good job.

He swore that his "genius" brother was like a big baby without the curse, he couldn't do anything, literally.

Except few magic experiments alright, he was good at equations, but when it came to daily life, he was worse than Natsu. He didn't understand normal person's basic daily needs, he didn't know how to cook, and didn't even have servants for it, and for hell's sake, he refused to let go of that piece of clothing that was over 400 years old. He was so overly happy at first that nothing died near him that the first thing he did was to run out of the castle when they finished into the rain, tripping over that stupid dress he had -and no one can convince Natsu otherwise, cause it was a freaking _dress_ according to him- and landing in one pit filled with mud.

Even Natsu knew he couldn't stand like that, being Emperor and all.

God, getting him out of the dirty clothes into new ones was the hardest thing in the demon's life. It was even worse than if you tried Erza to surrender her cake.

He shuddered at the thought and rather stopped thinking about such things, realizing he was in the main hall already.

How did he get there? Who knows.

He smirked when the sofa came into his view and he started to approach it with confidence.

Only to find it occupied.

By no one else than the dragon of apocalypse himself.

"Move" Natsu demanded, only to earn a low grumble from the dragon in the human form.

Way to brighten up his mood.

He made his way towards the couch, glaring at the form of the pretending-to-be-asleep dragon before grabbing one of his arms and harshly showing him onto the cold ground, sitting on the sofa himself with victory smirk.

"The fuck?!" Acnologia protested after landing onto the cold floor before the couch, starting to rub his head gently in hope to lessen the pain caused by the fall.

After finally getting rid of the headache he turned his gaze towards the source of his pain and glared, grumpily getting up and sitting next to the irritating boy that pretended to be innocent and yet seemed so overly happy for some unknown reason.

" _Innocent my ass"_ thought Acnologia. He crossed his arms, trying to show his discomfort, which was either ignored or came unnoticed by the demon.

Probably to annoy him even more, Natsu took out one of his cookbooks and started reading it, completely ignoring the presence of the once dragon king while humming happily some song Acnologia didn't recognize.

At that point he decided to have his attention no matter the cost. He would show this ignorant little brat that it was not wise to play with the almighty Acnologia!

And what an idea he got.

He smirked, starting to lean closer to the oblivious fire mage's ear, planning to blow some air into it, aware of how sensitive Natsu's ears were, as his senses were heightened by not only being a dragon slayer, but a demon as well.

That awesome revenge plan was however interrupted by someone entering the room.

"And just what are you thinking yourself doing to my little brother?!" A dark voice echoed behind him, along with menacing aura, which enveloped the whole room.

Thought that all went unnoticed by our pink haired cause of this situation.

Shakily, Acnologia turned to face his doom in form of one overprotective older brother, while trying to hide his face behind the couch, staring at the scary face of the cross armed ex-dark mage, who was glaring daggers at him.

And _oh_ if looks could kill, he would be sure he just died many times in a row.

"N-Nothing! Completely nothing!" he shrieked, preparing himself for whatever Zeref was about to throw at him, well aware that he had nowhere to run.

He risked a glimpse at Natsu, who still pretended to not notice the tension in the air, but the dragon in human form swore he saw smirk written well across his face.

This scene wouldn't be so strange, as it was daily occurrence, if it was not for one unknown intruder that was not expected that day, or any other.

The said person barged into room with loud bang of the doors, tripping while running across the room towards the silent conflict of the dark mage and dragon of apocalypse, but almost immediately standing up with determination and positioning herself between them.

"Y-You s-shouldn't f-fight!" Mavis declared, both her voice and body shaking from her nervousness. She was facing towards Zeref, looking at him with expression that could be only compared to puppy eyes.

They stared at each other for a while, Zeref being the first one to give up as he sighted. After all, he wouldn't be Zeref Dragneel if he didn't give in to Mavis. The menacing aura around him vanished as he calmed down, earning a relieved smile from the Fairy Tail's first guild master.

Well, he guessed it was worth it, he didn't see her smile for such a long time, that the sight before him made him crack a small turn of his lips upside also.

Still, he realized he was gonna have a hard time with her from now on, as she was very well aware of the influence she had over him thanks to this moment.

And much to his dismay, in the corner of his eye he saw a certain mischievous dragon that was smirking, as he noticed the silent exchange between the two, realizing that no matter what he will do from now on, there's someone who would be able to tame the dark mage's rage at all times.

 _Oh_ , all the evil plans that were forming in his head!

He chuckled evilly, but even after calming down, he found the once a couple -if a _"death"_ kiss counts- still staring at themselves, while standing pretty close.

 _Now_ that was unexpected for Acnologia, he never guessed Zeref as someone who would dwell on a love that died 100 years ago.

Without the curse he really seemed different somehow.

"Just kiss already" Natsu mocked, startling both Zeref and Mavis that suddenly looked panicked, while Acnologia just looked at him with scared do-you-want-to-die expression, considering he just _mocked_ the Zeref about his love life.

Then Acnologia learned about Zeref something else he couldn't have known…

…that he was easily flustered.

"S-Shut up!" he stuttered with bright red cheeks, while looking away from Natsu, trying to suppress his own embarrassment, giving Mavis quite a show after which she just giggled gently, noting just how cute the ex-dark mage looked at that precious moment.

"Oh, so you _can_ use those kind of words, Mr. always polite." Natsu smiled smugly.

That irritated the raven haired brother and he puffed his cheek, while glaring at Natsu. "You're still way worse than me!"

Natsu gave him a challenging look. "Says who?"

"Me!" he shouted, convinced of this fact.

Natsu stood up and walked around to couch to reach Zeref and leaned close, meeting Zeref's forehead with his. "Prove it." He challenged with his pupils narrowing, focusing his gaze onto Zeref's ones, which were filled with uncertainty and shock.

Zeref didn't know what Natsu was up to, but he was sure of one thing.

He didn't wanna loose with Mavis standing right behind him, observing his every action with smile.

He pressed his forehead against Natsu's in order to show his determination and glared straight into his eyes with the same intensity.

Natsu smirked, so proud of how his brother has grown from his emo self to this character that didn't wanna give up just yet.

That didn't mean that the fire mage would let him win of course, a competition was a competition.

* * *

"What the hell did you think you were doing?!" Aya, the youngest of Alvarez's shields shouted at the two brothers who were looking away from each other stubbornly, now in her custody, sitting on the ruined couch while being interrogated by her about the situation that lead to the whole main room's complete destruction.

"Nothing" they both said in unison.

"Do you even realize how much damage did you two make?! You are the worst! Can't you even control yourselves?!" she continued her lecture, while the observants -Mavis and Acnologia- were trying to suppress their laughs in one of the corners of the once beautiful room.

The windows were shattered, furniture completely destroyed, along with all vases and similar ornaments that were gracing the castle all over.

Natsu whined. "Nii-sama…why are we getting lectured by a small kid again?"

The raven haired man in question tried not to snort, but failed rather miserably and answered. "Hell if I know.

They both sighted, watching the little girl with short white hair and noble blue robe walk in circles before them while talking about something like responsibility and how stupid they are acting considering they are Emperors.

They hoped that this torture for their ears will end soon.

…

Meanwhile, a certain ex-dragon slayer was watching the scene with affectionate gaze.

There was just something in this stupid, reckless boy that he admired so much…

A reason that his heart suddenly became enveloped in warmth he lost so long ago, something that made his heart ache for the feeling of being by his side every time he saw him…

His question was…how?

How did this childish, argumentative, and hyperactive overgrown kid got through his protective walls?

And then he remembered…

 _He was tired, he wouldn't confess it to anyone, but he could feel how much of a toll the battle with the Fire Dragon King took on him._

 _His shoulder ached as the arm was almost ripped off and painfully torn._

 _He wasn't afraid thought, he was convinced no one would find him here before he fully recovered._

 _The island he resided within was pretty abandoned, considering it was surrounded with a thick fog and almost unnoticeable, a lot of sailors crashed before even spotting it._

 _Caves weren't exactly comfortable home here, but after a few hundred years he got used to it._

 _It was after two months of painful healing and peaceful hunting on the lonely island when he was proven wrong._

 _He was on his way to get some food as it was necessity for him, only to freeze as his gaze fell upon the unexpected visitor that suddenly emerged from the fog, stopping right before him._

 _He shook away the shock he felt upon seeing none other than the son of the Fire Dragon King._

 _Acnologia didn't fail to note some changes about him that he didn't see at the time of the dragons battle. Or maybe he just didn't notice as there were just fragments of certain moments when he was able to glance at the pink haired boy._

 _His eyes were calm, he no longer made any unnecessary movements he used to as far as Acnologia saw, as if everything was perfectly already thought ahead of in his mind. He held his ground proudly, like if he was facing one of his nightmares he was determined to defeat._

 _He probably was…facing the nightmare, that is._

 _But his eyes were strange. The olive orbs observed him more with curiosity and pity than hatred he was supposed to hold against him._

 _Why?_

 _Why was he looking at him like that?_

 _It pissed Acnologia off…_

 _He growled. "What do you want here?! Came to avenge your pitiful father?"_

 _He could see the flash of hurt that appeared in those eyes, but it was gone the second he blinked, returning to the same state seconds ago._

 _Acnologia started to sweat, they weren't doing anything except staring at each other, but he could feel the danger in the intense silence that was enveloping them._

 _And then with calm voice, the fire mage finally spoke. "I am not here for revenge, or anything of the sort, if that_ ' _s what you_ ' _re asking."_

 _The Dragon King_ ' _s eyes narrowed in caution of the boy, as the wind blew past them, playing with their hair and the pink haired man_ 's _coat, making him look even more dangerous and mysterious to Acnologia than he was before._

 _Then he noticed something else that the wind brought him._

 _A certain smell._

 _The oh so familiar smell that he would never forget, no matter how many years passed._

 _But that was impossible! The owner of that smell died 400 years ago!_

 _The thought of the mage before him being another of those fake replacements of that person made him feel sick, and before he knew it, he was ready in his fighting position, in respect waiting for the other to register what was happening, before launching himself at the other guy, who swiftly dodged by jumping above Acnologia, as if he expected the outburst, and gracefully landing behind him._

 _That calm expression on his face as Acnologia turned around annoyed him even more, and he prepared himself for another attack, this time with his magic._

" _You still didn't ask me why I am here" the pink haired kid stated calmly, causing Acnologia to pause what he was doing and look at him with confusion. "I want the treasure you are guarding"_

 _His eyes widened._

 _That…wasn't something he was expecting._

 _For a second there, he was sure the dragon slayer was bluffing, however his firm gaze told him otherwise._

 _Suddenly, he seemed wary, and his stance got more defensive as he asked in low threatening voice. "How do you know about that?"_

" _A demon got his sources." He answered simply, as if it was the most obvious thing on the world, but Acnologia didn't miss the confident smirk which was plastered on his face._

" _That thing is quite valuable, what will I get in return if you lose?"_

 _The demon seemed to ponder his question, but answered firmly after few seconds. "You can have my soul."_

 _Acnologia froze yet again. Was this kid serious? Did he even realize what he was saying?_

 _But, just looking at the aura around him which was filled with his resolve, he understood._

 _Still, he couldn't help the low chuckle that escaped his throat, and continued endlessly until it grew into a full laughter that echoed throughout the island._

 _He stopped as suddenly as he started, facing the mage before him with nothing but a challenge written all over him. "Deal!" he shouted, inhaling the air around him in fast motion before releasing a white beam of his own magic, directed towards the pink haired boy._

 _He expected this to be a one hit show, and therefore he dropped his guard too quickly, freezing on the spot as he felt a warm presence behind him._

 _Before he could turn around and make sure it was the guy himself, he felt something burn his back and hit him with such a force, he flew few feet away from his location, not stopping the second he reached ground but sliding another good distance away while disrupting the ground with his heavy body, burying himself in the loam._

 _He got back onto his legs fast, spitting the soil that stuck in his mouth and looked fiercely at his opponent, who stood on his previous place, with his right hand lifted and clad in fire dragon claw._

 _Looks like this was going to be fun after all._

 _Acnologia smirked, he didn't know why the thing meant to this mage so much, but he didn't exactly care. That burden was given to him hundred years ago, and he would be more than grateful if he could get rid of it._

 _Yet, the determination, the resolve, the fervor of this guy…it was all too good to miss! He will have fun crushing all of it._

 _On the other side, Natsu was as concentrated as ever on his opponent. He meant what he said. If he will lose here, then it doesn't matter if he loses his soul as well._

 _Failing here would mean that he lost the only way to save his brother, if Natsu lost here, Zeref would be left to suffering for eternity._

 _This was at least something that would keep him going, as he made sure he cannot back out._

 _He had no other choice, he had to win here, even if he would die in the process, that didn't matter._

 _With a growl, he jumped towards Acnologia ready for second punch, accelerating his speed by putting his legs on fire, using them as a kind of rocket._

 _Acnologia wasn't so stupid as to fall for the same trick twice, and successfully moved out of the way before Natsu had the chance to land a hit._

 _The fire mage glared at the Dragon King, using his improved speed once again to run around the dragon, creating a magic circle with his movements while Acnologia just stood on the same spot, curios about what he was planning._

 _When he was finished with creating the circle, Natsu jumped out of the way, in the air, and thanks to the fire on his legs stayed there._

 _He reached his hand out towards the middle of the circle where Acnologia was standing and suddenly, clenched his hand, activating the magic._

 _The circle below Acnologia started shining brightly, as a new one above him appeared. However, he didn't panic, he transformed into his dragon form, successfully breaking out of the magic._

 _He glanced at the small figure in the distance, that surprisingly didn't show any signs of shock at how easily his spell has been shattered._

 _Well, not like it mattered._

 _Acnologia spread his wings in advance and roared, heading towards the source of his annoyance, his hand was already healed, and since he could take down the father…_

… _he was sure he could take down the son too!_

 _Not to mention the fact he had the same smell as the son of his friend. How much more will they torture his memory, just because he was a prodigy long ago?_

 _It pissed him off, so much that he let out another one of his magic roars towards the boy, not caring one bit that he will probably destroy the only place he could call home after such a long time of searching._

 _He let his own anger blind him, and he realized now, that was one of his many mistakes that day._

 _The fire mage didn't seem fazed at all, continuing to dodge his attacks while barely attacking._

 _What was he trying to do?_

 _He flew around him, pondering his choices about various attacks he could use, only to narrow his eyes when he saw a smirk appear on the other mage's face._

 _And then he noticed, not just two, but six magic circles surrounded him, not leaving him even a single crack in which he would be able to run away._

 _He narrowed his eyes at the pink haired man, before the little room he had left exploded in fire, and he screamed in pain, as the fire burned him for the first time in forever. He desperately tried to think about some escape plan, however the pain made him see white, barely able to stay awake, let alone thinking about some kind of strategy._

 _When the circles finally disappeared and let him go from the hellish experience in form of clouds of fire that ate him away, he couldn't move for a while, and so he started falling._

 _He noticed the little brat standing right near the spot he was supposed to fall at, and he was determined to not give him such a pleasure of falling in front of him._

 _In the last second, he managed to transform back into his human form and land on his legs safely._

 _Still didn't help his pain much, his body was badly burnt, and each one of his movements hurt like crazy._

 _He glared at the source of his suffering._

 _He wasn't about to give up thought, not to such kid! He was the Dragon King, Acnologia! He will always emerge victorious! No matter his enemy!_

 _And he had one advantage the fire dragon slayer didn't._

 _He buried his leg into the ground, turning around fast and creating dusty fog around him, disappearing amidst it, leaving the other mage confused._

 _Natsu knew the dragon planned some kind of ambush, but from where? In the thick fog it was already hard to spot someone, where he will come from?_

 _He looked above him and saw no change, then behind him, nothing there either._

 _Then his eyes widened in realization and looked down on the crack that was forming below him, he quickly jumped into the air, only to see it was too late, as Acnologia emerged from the crack and once again transformed into dragon form, extending his arm and catching one of Natsu's legs._

 _Natsu was surprised upon seeing the hungry expression on the Dragon King's face, but forced his thoughts stay calm, he won't let the guy get any closer to him!_

 _He turned around in the air, twisting his leg in process as the grip on it was too strong, but upon getting speed from the turn, he launched a fire wave from his other leg, right into Acnologia's face, who released him in instant._

 _The dragon realized that his huge form wasn't the best card to play against someone as flexible as this guy._

 _Natsu landed safely onto the ground, the leg twisting itself back to original position the second it touched ground, and he didn't look like it bothered him much, standing perfectly on both of his legs as if nothing happened._

 _That was another thing that surprised Acnologia about the boy. "Can't you feel pain?" he asked in astonishment._

 _But was left with no answer as Natsu's eyes changed into red ones suddenly, his pupils narrowing into ones of true demon, and he brought one if hands closer to his concentrated face, his nails got longer and sharper, and the second Acnologia realized what he was planning to do, it was too late, as his side was already torn with the claws of a demon._

 _Complete defeat he thought, as he fell onto ground, burnt and injured badly on his side, while he failed to land a single hit._

 _He lied there helplessly on the floor, waiting for his end in patience. Natsu could take the thing whenever he wanted, now the main picture was that the man that killed his "father" mercilessly before his very own eyes was right in front of him, one hit away from being dead._

 _But the expected blow never came, and he moved his head so he could see the expression of the boy above him._

 _It was still filled with pity as the first time he came onto the island, and Acnologia chuckled, how pathetic must he look in the eyes of this boy?_

 _Still…_

" _You remind me of someone I met a long ago…" he didn't know why he was saying it to a complete stranger, but he felt like if he was going to die, he needed to get this off of his chest, or it will be like a stone tied to him for the rest of eternity that he will spend in the realm of dead._

 _Surprisingly, he did catch the boy's attention._

" _He was such a hyperactive boy…with a pink hair like yours, and a brother that would sacrifice anything for him…the two were inseparable…the older one prodigy in theories and equations that lead to new uses of the already found magic, while the younger one had a magic power an adult was jealous of, and created all sorts of new magic…" he coughed, noticing warm trail that slid past his lips, and he doubted it was saliva. "Then…one day…the younger one went away from town to study away, and the two separated…however that city was attacked by dragons…"_

 _Natsu seemed to freeze at the sentence, as if recalling something._

"… _Even thought I was a dragon slayer that was supposed to protect them…as I promised to their father…I failed so hard…losing not only my friend but also his wife in this battle…and what's worse…I couldn't stop their son from sacrificing himself to save the rest of us who survived the attack."_

 _He felt wetness in his eyes, but ignored it, and sobbed before continuing._

" _I-I was so mad, even when I promised to take care of the older brother that the younger sacrificed himself for…I abandoned him along with the townsfolk that managed to escape…and swore that I will kill every single dragon that existed!"_

" _After few hundred years however, I found out that the older brother, Zeref, resurrected Natsu, who was the younger…I was so happy!" He smiled, despite the sob that escaped his throat. "I searched for them for so long! But when I finally found them…god, there was so much blood! They were destroyed by humans they protected, and while I found Zeref, I couldn't find Natsu no matter how hard I tried! His smell just disappeared…and every time I asked, I was just brushed off…" He let out his tears this time, giving up on fighting the sadness that ate away his heart for so long. "I hated humans so much after that, I didn't care anymore who it was, dragon or human! I would destroy them all! Of course, that train of thought didn't last me long as the loneliness grew bigger and bigger, and I searched for a place called home…and when I finally found a village that accepted me, despite knowing who I am…they were killed yet again by their own kind…and I was cursed with the thing that you so much want to possess right now." He knew he was a mess when he finished, his mouth dirty from his own blood, and his cheeks stained with his own tears._

 _He was surprised the boy listened to him to the end._

 _He sighted, feeling like a heavy stone was lifted from his heart as he let out his story to someone else, and had a thin sword appear in his hand._

 _He shoved it towards the other man, who took it with hesitation. "Can I at least have your name?"_

 _He could sense the boy tense, but it was gone after a second, as he heard him chuckle, and tried to look at him with confusion._

" _Natsu…Natsu Dragneel, the resurrected brother of Zeref Dragneel." He smiled at Acnologia fondly, glad he was able to hear his part of the story, as he learned the 400 years old rumors were just that, a rumors._

 _Much to Acnologia's bewilderment, he stood up and reached out his hand towards him._

" _I can't make any promises, but I would like to offer you a place to stay, if you have nowhere else to go." He grinned, showing his pointy teeth._

 _Acnologia swore the guy was joking, he couldn't possibly be Natsu, even if he had his smell, but…he couldn't seem to find anything fake about the boy._

 _He guessed it will be worth to find out himself, if he was really who he thought he was, and took that hand, which immediately gripped his firmly in encouragement._

* * *

Stumbling through the thick forest, Gray barely moved towards the house in the woods he found.

His right shoulder was dislocated, his ankle was sprained and he had various burns all over his body.

 _Curse you…curse you…curse you!_ He repeated in his mind, as with every step he felt a pain shot through his whole body.

He let out a relieved sight as he noticed the small wooden structure few feet away from him, he swore revenge on the demon that humiliated him so, refusing the thought of defeat, but right now he needed a rest.

Too bad he didn't notice the few man dressed in black capes, hiding behind the trees, watching his every move.

* * *

 **Im getting back to writing after like...two months? I dunno, so you may find more grammar mistakes than before, but I will try to get better once again! :D**

 **If you didnt understand something, you can always ask me either in reviews or pm, dont be afraid! :)**

 **Anyhow, I thank you for reading and not giving up on this story since it wasnt updated in a while, I really love you all 3**

 **See ya! Alaeriiiii!**


	13. Preparations

**Okaaay, I know Im late, I KNOW :D**

 **Lets just say I got few things packed up at the moment, and I accidentally rewatched Kakumei Valvrave anime, and ended up crying whole 2nd season :D**

 **Anyyhow, I planned this to be one chapter along with the ball, but I lost somewhere my notes that I had for it so I apologize for the short chapter, but I didnt want to make you wait any longer, I will just extend the ball :D**

 **Still, im thinking about ending the jokes and start the angst soon :D**

 **Anyyhow! Time for you!**

 **Guest: There is no way this story would ever be discontinued, I might just sometimes update late :D**

 **Kori no Koibito: Im sorry if I confused you, I really didnt mean to, I guess I should somehow redo that AN there, but dont worry! It got gratsu aye! (tho for the pairings that were requested and I refused in the end Im trying to get some gifts :D)**

 **laxusdrayer2324: Guess about Acnologia :D**

 **LadyFire-Azura: Isnt it just cute when two (over 400 years old) boys get scolded by strong little girl for their childish acts? :D**

 **ef07: Yep, something is gonna happen to Gray, but not yet :D (Alvarez security is bad bad bad, huh? :D)**

 **NightStory: Haha, Im by way no senpai, Rhov is senpai of all gratsu I would dare to say :D Anyhow! I dont mind if you write looooooooong messages/reviews, I always enjoy reading all of those!**

 **XxAceLawXx: Yep, tho that scene is in more animes than just that, but I am fan of Tokyo Ghoul too (tho I watched it just because of one of the pairings, as I am not exactly interested in crybaby as main character :D)**

 **WritingBunny: Thats actually...a brilliant idea :O I will put Lucy up to something :D What Levy found in the Council is still pretty far away from here, as Gray needs to be present while she explains it :D Also, this is kinda Natsu-centered story, so yes, you will see some more of Fairy Tail, but dont expect much, is mostly about Zeref, Mavis, Natsu and Gray. (+ Acnologia)**

 **Guess thats all, enjoy reading! :D**

* * *

The very next day Natsu stumbled through the halls, utterly frustrated and completely exhausted from yesterday events.

The little devil kid (aka Aya) forced him and Zeref to clean up the mess they caused with their little fight, convincing the castle staff to not help them under any circumstances.

What was worse, the stupid Acnologia laughed at them all the time, ordering them around while proclaiming them as the best joke of Emperors in centuries.

It wasn't their fault they wanted some fun.

And oh dear God, Mavis…

…Mavis was a catastrophe.

Not only was she making even bigger mess while trying to help them, however her being a ghost for 100 years and even when alive, barely aware of something else than her little library, was making her another worry for our poor Natsu.

She was just like Zeref when he got rid of the curse…

…only like ten times worse.

He sighted, trying to forget about the two babies he was assumed as a caretaker of, and the childish dragon as well.

Was kinda hard when you shared home with them.

Not to mention, today was yet another stressful day, as the ball was taking place tonight, and his brother completely ignored all his pleas about not attending, even after he went as far as to confess that he couldn't dance.

Like…at all.

Sure, he danced with Erza in the past, but he wasn't so sure if her style of spinning her partner round and round actually counted as dancing.

If he attempted her style he was sure he would get scolded for making their guests sick.

So what do you think Zeref did?

Yea…that's right…

…he made our poor Natsu have dancing lessons with another scary woman…

…the nightmare of all men in castle…

…Brandish.

Natsu made his way towards the Emperors private bath – which looked more like Japanese-style hot spring-, trying to erase all thoughts about ball from his mind at least at this moment, along with hope to be able to relax until he was made to face the hellish day head on.

The "spring" was located just behind the castle, as a part of the castle garden, yet unseen by anyone as it was protected by magical barrier.

Which is their main priority, they may be sometimes reckless and abandon their duties as Emperors pretty often, however that didn't change that there were some…well many…. _girls_ that liked not only their power or wealth, but both of them were good looking as well.

And that resulted in their castle being surrounded by horde of females every day and night, and Natsu wouldn't admit how many times he used the fear of Zeref's of being thrown out of the window into middle of them as a warning when Zeref refused to do his paperwork.

He shuddered at the thought of how many of them will be attending the ball, and he knew that was the ex-dark mage's revenge for Natsu, as he was avoiding it for so long, leaving his brother to his doom alone.

That aside, he finally reached the illusionary dead end of the hallway leading around the castle towards the garden. Looking around to make sure he wasn't followed -as he didn't want any visitors in his time alone-, he let out a relieved sight when he couldn't detect anyone's presence. He walked through the illusion, revealing a cozy wooden changing room. He scanned the shelves on his left side that functioned instead of wardrobes with his eyes, hoping no one came in before him, so he was able to have a moment to himself.

When it was clear that he was alone, he let out a relieved sight and began to take off his clothes. Hi baggy pants slid down easily once he removed the belt, and since he walked barefoot, he just stepped out of the clothing on the ground. His coat stayed always open, so he just had to get out of the sleeves without having to bother himself with any unnecessary buttons.

He took the sword holding his brother's curse with him, and wrapped one of the towels that hung on the wall around his waist.

After folding his clothing neatly into one of the shelves he stepped outside, where his "bath" was waiting for him.

He was met with something like a pool of steaming water, surrounded by tiny stones. The ground was covered with stone squares, and the barrier from inside looked like simple fence made from wood. Natsu let the sword lean on one of wooden walls, so he would be able to see it all time.

Cautiously, he got closer to the water, touching the water surface lightly with one of his feet, checking its temperature.

It was good enough.

Still, after completely diving into the water, Natsu anyway adjusted the temperature much to his own liking with his magic.

He looked up to the blue sky.

Natsu didn't like to be alone, and he was yet again reminded of why exactly was that…

…because it made him think of unpleasant things.

For example, the battle with Tartaros year ago, his fellow demons, that for the book that represented his life.

And he was on the other side, trying to destroy it…

…to destroy himself.

What did he fight for at that time exactly? For his death by Gray's hands? By his own hands? Or…

…or his foster father's?

Igneel wanted the book too, forbidding Natsu to open or destroy it.

But…according to Atlas Flame, Igneel failed in killing E.N.D.

Natsu didn't remember the Fire Dragon King ever trying to kill him, but he was a child, it should have been easy right?

And, even if he failed at that time, what would he do the moment Natsu would blindly, without suspecting anything, give him the book?

What would Igneel do, when he had his- E.N.D. 's life literally in his hands?

Natsu trusted Igneel more than anything but still…

…he was afraid to know the answer.

He didn't realize when someone else entered the bath, until that certain someone decided to put his hands onto Natsu's shoulders, making him jump a little and his eyes widen.

"Are you alright?" He registered the concerned voice of Acnologia, and let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

After he calmed down a little, instead of throwing a comment about Acnologia's evil sneaky habits, he answered. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure don't look fine to me" Acnologia gently retorted, receiving anyway a glare from the fire mage, who just turned away from the dragon's gaze once he saw the worry gathered in his eyes, and pretended to ignore him.

Acnologia sighted upon this boy's stubbornness.

"Here, let me help you." The dragon moved his hands from Natsu's shoulders to his hair, pouring the incredibly hot water on them slowly.

"I don't need anyone's help" Natsu responded harshly, his body tense.

"I know…" Acnologia closed his eyes and put his chin atop the pink haired boy's head, "…but at least this time, …let me help you." He sent a quiet plea towards Natsu, waiting for his reply.

Instead, after a while Natsu finally relaxed, and that was all the once dragon king needed for answer, before he began washing Natsu's hair softly, careful not to miss any spots.

For Natsu, it felt like a very calming massage, and he found himself giving in pretty soon, dozing slowly off.

Acnologia carefully held Natsu's head that threatened to fall into the water, as he was not awake to hold it upright.

Now, he couldn't have their little adorable prince drown himself, could he?

The dragon smiled compassionately upon seeing the demon's serene face and couldn't help himself but to kiss his forehead.

"That's right, you just need to rest now…and everything will be alright." He whispered, as to not wake the demon up, carefully hosting him up and carrying him princess style back to his room.

* * *

He felt cold when he regained consciousness, and for a second there he thought that Gray was near. But when he managed to open his eyes, he noticed he was lying on his bed with wet towel around his waist.

Not to mention, it soaked his bed too, and the opened window wasn't helping his situation much.

No wonder he was feeling cold, which idiot left him like that there? If they were too embarrassed to change his clothes why not just simply wake him up?

Zeref probably would wake him, so the only one left with the entry for that was Acnologia.

Damn the dragon, he did that deliberately for sure. And when Natsu started planning ways how to kill the overgrown lizard with wings slowly and painfully, he heard knock on his door.

He ran a hand through his hair, before swiftly changing his clothes into his normal ones that Acnologia probably brought from the bath changing room and froze.

Panic engulfed him as he forgot the sword, but he quickly calmed down when he was it on another side of the room and quickly attached it to his belt.

Realizing he probably wasted enough time with that, he went towards the door, opening it and was surprised to see Brandish standing in front of him.

"Uh-what?"

"The dancing lessons" she cut him off, already entering the room without his permission, looking around.

"Hmm…you got it quite clean here for a man" A tick mark appeared on Natsu's forehead.

"I don't think you are here to criticize anything else except my horrible dancing skills." He commented.

"Aw, but that would be no fun, how many occasions like this do you think appear to me? Your room is basically forbidden ground for us all" she chuckled at the irritated growl that Natsu let out.

"Let's just get this torture over with."

"Now, now, that's not how you thank a lady that _sincerely_ offered to help you not to make a fool out of yourself on the big day, right?"

Natsu huffed, otherwise he didn't make a sound, but by walking towards her and extending his hands awkwardly since he didn't know what to do, the message was clear.

She sighted, the Dragneel brothers sure were both 400 years old kids.

"It's the first time for you, so I won't risk it with a music, I am not interested in being stuck here for hours, I am sure you will figure it out along the way" She took his hands and placed one of those on her waist while she held the second one. Yet another problem, she had to extend her hand as he was standing way too far away.

"Don't be so guarded, come closer to me" Reluctantly he took a little step towards her.

She wanted to hit him so hard, but took a deep breath and closed the distance herself. Their chest were touching and she couldn't help but notice the light pink that dusted the demon's cheeks. He wasn't used on being this close with anyone except Zeref.

The thought that she made devil himself blush made her chuckle.

"Now let's start moving. First to the right, come on, step at a time, one…two…three"

There was some hesitation on his side, but he still managed to do so without bumping into anything or stepping on her shoes, so she assumed it was alright.

"Now to the left…one…two…three"

Successful too.

"Okay, now try it with us spinning slowly, first to the right and then left."

Now, that was a more difficult for him, and when he was supposed to change sides he finally made the mistake of stepping on her toes, with the wrong leg even. Natsu looked away in embarrassment, however she didn't let him dwell on it.

"Cmon, it happens often enough, let's try again."

They tried that simple pattern for a few more minutes without mistake, but since she wanted to teach him more, she wanted that simple thing engraved into his mind.

"You are a fast learner" She exclaimed, a bit proud of the so called prince of Alvarez.

"T-thanks." She smirked, he finally managed to get a word out. That's good, conversation is also pretty nice adding to the dance.

"Now, try flipping me around on three when going to the right and left." He moved his feet thrice to the right, let go of her waist and put their intertwined hands above her head so she could turn around and started moving thrice to the left once he got her safely in his grip again, doing the same thing there.

"You're getting better" She encouraged him.

"Well, I guess that's the basics, probably the only thing you will need at the ball, so I will take my leave now." He nodded.

She made her way out, however stopped at the door. "You're not bad, if you weren't a demon, I would try my luck with you." And with that she left the poor, now bashful demon alone, silently cursing that he got so easily embarrassed over things he couldn't do.

He was panicking about the thought that he was supposed to dance so close to someone in front of like hundred people he didn't know on the ball.

He sighted, looking out of the window on the already darkening sky, announcing that the time was near.

Natsu still needed to visit his brother to get him into some ridiculous clothes he was supposed to wear.

Apparently, you can't go on a ball half naked with baggy pants, cloak and barefoot.

What was wrong about the way he dressed anyway? It's still better than Zeref's 400-year-old clothes that just somehow changed color. He called it a robe but Natsu was sure it was just a dress he wrapped a bedsheet around.

Well whatever, it's just one night and he can flee from the rest.

Just this once…

He ran a hand through his hair and went towards Zeref's (and when his brother ditches his work then even Natsu's) office, where he was sure the ex-dark mage was locked in and probably buried in mountains of papers that needed to be signed.

He sighted again as he decided to pay a visit to him, and left his room.

And the second he opened door to the office, which was right next door, while his brother's room was right across to his, surely, there were mountain of papers.

But Zeref wasn't exactly buried by them.

He lay on the ground looking completely devastated, and Natsu didn't like the aura of exhaustion that was emanating from the dark mage.

He scratched the back of his neck, now what? Papers held power that was able to destroy both him and his brother, and he wasn't exactly too eager to get into a fight with them before even more frustrating ball.

" _Let's just make a run for it"_ he thought.

He pushed off some documents that lay upon his body and took Zeref carefully into his arms, carrying him princess-style.

He also didn't miss his chance to look at his brother when he sleeps.

He had such a relaxed face, with a smile on his lips and long lashes covering part of his cheeks, making him look gorgeous yet fragile at the same time.

And Natsu felt conflicted, he should wake him up soon for the ball, they still got to get their clothes adjusted, however on another side, it was rare to see _the Zeref_ looking so peaceful.

Then again, he would probably curse Natsu forever if he didn't get to dance with Mavis…

With a sight, he began to move towards the main hall, where everyone was probably already waiting for them.

He wasn't looking forward to tonight at all.

* * *

 **Okay, so before you scold me, the only thing I know about dancing is from the time Team Natsu was supposed to abduct the guy who wanted to marry the girl, and could steal someones magic, if you remember? So, thats why the dancing lesson isnt quite accurate. (And also because I want Natsu to mess up xD)  
**

 **Anyhow, Im sorry for any grammar mistakes, Im trying to get better day by day, trust me :)**

 **Also, LET THE ZERVIS FEELS START! :D**

 **Till next time! ALAERIIIII :)**


	14. Masquarade Ball

**So, finally chapter 14!**

 **Im sorry it took so long, but I was ill, and didnt really have the mood to write while trying to catch up with school and lay on bed with temperature :D**

 **I wrote on my profile when I will update and how is it going, but Im not sure if anyone reads that, yet I always write there when Im delayed :)**

 **The chapter is kinda short, because otherwise I wouldnt be able to write it on time as I wrote on my profile :D**

 **Well anyhow! Onto your comments/questions!**

 **Daygon Yuuki: Well thank you, there will be more :) and...uh...I will update once I finish my essays okay? :D**

 **Guests: Thank you all for reading this story! And I hope to be updating sooner next time, as for fighting scenes, well they are incoming soon, but not in this chappie :D and yep, I am a faggot lover, and guess what, IM PROUD OF IT :D Also, I noticed I indeed make mistake in writing sigh/sight...Im terribly sorry for that QQ I will be careful about it from now on, about though/thought...weell thats gonna be harder, but I will try :D**

 **Writing bunny &Nightstory: So to explain Acnologia relationship with Natsu, Acnologia feels extreme gratitude towards Natsu because he saved him from the world of hatred and his own guilt, he sees Natsu as his light because he was the only one who ever tried to help him, and so he deluded himself into believing that what he feels towards Natsu is love. I made that relationship for a reason. Ancnologia, because of this feeling, notices a tiniest different things about Natsu and pays a lot of attention to him, more than Happy. Thats why he is gonna have the consoling role here. I am aware that Happy doesnt appear much, but thats gonna change with time, and I also planned to give one whole chapter from his point of view, still thats gonna be later on. Not to mention that Natsu was up until now very much focused on saving his brother, while Happy is still dealing with his situation of being separated from Charle.**

 **IndigoWolfie: I know, arent they cuties? :D**

 **Titania1796 &firesword1: Thank you a lot :)**

 **frozem1: Thank you for review, but you dont have to use translator if you dont want to, I will at least learn some new words :)**

 **Wacko12: Well, the babies are supposed to be the clumsy Mavis and annoying-elder-brother Zeref, while baby dragon is the one who is always not satisfied with anything - Acnologia :D**

 **elf07: Thank you very much, but since this is story where Natsu is siding with Alvarez, you will see him getting friendly with more people than just those :D**

 **Well, guess thats all, if you got any other questions dont be afraid to write me anytime :)**

 **Pretty long AN huh? I hope you like this chapter!**

* * *

He wanted to run away.

Thought he was sure that was a one-way ticket to even greater hell than he was in now.

For the first time in his life, he couldn't bear the presence of people around him.

He couldn't bear the sharp sting of pain in his leg caused by the edge of something as small and common, as what the people used on the fabric he wore. And the stand-still position he maintained for hours now was driving him slowly insane.

He risked a glance at his side, noticing his brother in similar state, although he tried to hide it.

He would have thought that his older sibling was already used to this treatment after all the times Natsu ditched him to face this on his own, but he guessed it's something you will never get used to.

After all the stitches the tailors made on the ridiculously looking outfits to adjust them to their exact size, Natsu could finally relax and let his muscles rest. He stretched out because of the stiffness and hoped that it will be all over soon.

"Are you feeling okay?" Zeref came from behind him and gently put a hand over Natsu's shoulder, who in turn looked at him questioningly.

"Yea, just a bit sore" he answered, already exhausted, and the ball haven't even started yet.

"You will get used to it after some time" the older brother tried to encourage.

"Like you, for example?" Natsu mocked, making Zeref blush.

"Shut up" he protested weakly, slowly making his way towards the exit.

Natsu followed him as they started to discuss their predictions of the event's progress, they were both surprised however when one of the tailors stopped them and handed them a pair of masks that matched their outfits. Both of them shared a confused expression until it finally dawned on them that this was probably one of those balls where people's faces were hidden.

Neither of them knew if they were supposed to be scared or relieved about it, but accepted the extra accessory anyway, and continued their chatter while walking away from the cursed tailoring room in good spirits.

* * *

Truth to be told, he was nervous as hell when he stood in the dark hallway in front of the entry to the balcony that was covered in the party lights. Zeref reached out and squeezed his hand softly in an attempt to calm him down, which he succeeded, but only for a short while as when he withdrew it left a cold sensation that slowly started to bother Natsu.

He heard various noises from the hall and could sense way too many scents of overused perfumes mixed together in disgusting smell, which hurt his nose and he started to doubt if he will really be able to do this. But there was no room left for hesitation as they heard an instrumental melody, which signaled that their arrival was being announced to the lousy crowd.

He looked at his brother for support, and saw Zeref's confident stare, which he didn't have all that often, so Natsu took a deep breath, and together they stepped into the light, accompanied by the loud cheers and gazes of everyone in the hall towards the Emperors.

They were greeted by many squeals from both, men and women, as the two boys stood in all their glory on plain sight of everyone else.

The older one was clothed in majestic white cloak with golden emblems of the Alvarez Empire, under the cloak he had the typical historical royal outfit, one-piece dress with uneven belt over his hips and white hoses. The upper part of his clothes was wrapped in white festive shawl – which Natsu called a stupid curtain-, and white mask with golden rim hid his eyes and nose.

The younger one was completely different. None of the royal clothing they kept suited him well enough, so they had to keep things practical, yet in another style. He wore black baggy pants with various golden symbols at their end. He was allowed to attend as the only exception without a shirt and had instead a black, short, unzipped vest along with red cloak put around his shoulders. At the edge around his neck the cloak had some kind of dark fur and the ends of it were clipped together with a metal staple across his chest wryly. Unlike Zeref however, he discarded the mask somewhere along the way.

Well, all in all, they were both gorgeous and contradicting, and already frightened by the hungry stares the female guests were giving them.

Both of them were hesitant in climbing down the stairs, but only one of them was in real potential danger of being taken to dance by random fangirl of theirs.

And that, unfortunately was Natsu, as Zeref kept himself busy with Mavis.

Natsu knew his clothes were too flashy to pretend he was someone else, and the distinctive pink hair -not to mention the crown that rested atop his head- didn't really help his case much, meaning that merging in with the crowd was out of option.

He didn't have much time pondering about it as they were nearing the end of the staircase, where Mavis and everyone else already waited for them.

What should he do? Was he even supposed to do something?

He started to panic inside.

Natsu saw from the corner of his eye how Zeref hastily grabbed Mavis's hand and pushed through the horde of people somewhere out of his sight.

Now our poor unexperienced Natsu was all alone.

He watched the girls in front of him fight for his attention but he wasn't interested in dancing or heck, even in talking with anyone from here.

He tried to find some kind of excuse to run away, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he felt someone grab his hand and drag him away from the masses.

He was in complete shock after the horrifying experience, and forgot to fight back or even to make a damn sound and let himself be taken away. He sensed a lot of people brushing past them, crashing into them, but all Natsu could concentrate on was the person before him with his wild white hair, whom tried to get him away from there through all the madness, and he couldn't help himself but feel grateful.

They turned around few corners and climbed some more stairs until Natsu found himself and the other person on one of the few upper balconies with view on the whole hall, where people gathered.

It was the perfect place to watch without being seen.

He turned around to thank his savior, only to notice that Acnologia already removed his mask and looked like if he was seriously checking Natsu's appearance out.

After a while of sounds like "hmm" and "eh" he nodded in approval and slowly turned his attention back to Natsu, who froze once he realized Acnologia was staring at him intensely and began to feel nervous.

Why? He guessed he will never know.

"Are you alright? They can be pretty fierce sometimes." He asked, and it took Natsu more time than he would like to admit to finally register the ex-dragon king's words.

"Uh…" he was still in a daze from the panicking runaway and it took some more time until he was able to get out some coherent words. "…I-I guess?" he stuttered, but then blinked a few times and shook his head as in realization and ultimately got over his shock, quietly cursing himself for being so damn obvious.

Acnologia raised one of his eyebrows but decided to ignore Natsu's strange behavior. "I still can't believe they made you wear this, even if it does suit you surprisingly well, it's just weird to see you in pretty clothes."

Was that supposed to be compliment for his casual outfits or insult for Natsu to appear weird while wearing something for Emperor?

Well, whatever…he chuckled at the comment since it wasn't every day the big bad apocalypse dragon so worried about anything, let alone the way Natsu dressed.

"Aw, are you saying I can't look good?"

He was surprised when he saw a faint pink color to make itself known on the dragon's cheeks while stuttering words of denial, but Natsu supposed it was just plainly unusual for him to do all this royal stuff and even dress accordingly. He couldn't blame Acnologia, he found it kinda wrong himself too, so he let the subject slide. He went near the edge to lean on it, shifting his attention to the people below them.

They seemed to chitchat near the tables with glasses of expensive wine in their hands, and the music haven't even started yet, he wondered if that was on purpose or not.

After all, this was his first time attending, meaning he knew true nothing about all of this.

"Um…thank you for-" Natsu stopped in the middle of his sentence as he stared at the empty spot beside him.

He sighed, it looked like he was all alone.

* * *

(Meanwhile)

They continued walking and pushing through the waves of people until Zeref was sure they would have some privacy and still hear the music that was about to start soon.

He held the whole way Mavis to his chest protectively, even though both of them were in their twenties, they were almost half the size a normal adult was, looking like little teenagers.

The ceiling of the hall was supported by many massive pillars that followed the beginning of the room to its very end. Behind them however, was a tiny shadowed space. Enough for two people to dance alone, while not being out of reach of the soft sounds that started to play addicting melody in the background.

Zeref knew that many used these secluded places for inappropriate things that should have never been done in public places, but that was mostly after everyone got drunk, so he got some time.

Along with Mavis, he hid behind one of the pillars and leant on it, panting heavily as if he just ran a marathon.

After few moments of trying to catch his breath, he slowly glanced at her, surprised when she did the same, and once their eyes met she smiled that genuine smile of hers, which soon evolved to full blown laughter.

Watching her being so happy around him with carefree instead of the wary attitude she always used to have…it created a warm feeling in his chest, which managed to spread all the way up to his cheeks.

He was faintly aware of what was happening to him, and he found it cruel that the feeling survived tough 100 years of separation and lasted even with the terrible feeling on guilt eating away at his heart.

100 years ago…it was him who removed this beautiful creature filled with hopeful feelings and gorgeous smile.

The look in his eyes must have been way sullener than he thought, as he couldn't hear that soft sound coming from her anymore. When he shifted his attention towards her, she watched him with worried and troubled expression.

He tried to give her a reassuring smile in return, uncertain if he succeeded or not, but as he heard the slow music playing, before he even realized what he was doing he stood in front of her and outstretched his hand.

When she appeared confused at his actions he started to internally panic. He didn't plan on it going this way, it was just a reflex, really. But he figured that now he should play along or he will make himself look like a clown.

"May I have this dance?" he asked hopefully.

He would never forget how her expression changed from confused to shocked, then to alluringly excited in mere seconds as she nodded hyperactively the answer "yes". Zeref took her hand and pulled her a little closer, putting one of his hands to grab onto her waist while with the other he carefully took hers, shifting them to their side.

He slowly started to move to the rhythm of the music, looking straight at her as his thoughts began to drift far away, to the time when she was so happy to see that she tackled him to the ground 100 years ago, with complete trust in him as she sat in between his legs, coming closer…

He was so lost in his own world, that it shocked him twice as it normally would when she intertwined her fingers while still keeping up the tempo of the dance. Zeref didn't know what was her expression, because he felt his face burning up and he couldn't possibly look at her in his current state.

They danced like that for a while in awkward silence, neither of them knew how long it lasted, but both remembered when it ended.

"This feels nice…doesn't it?" Mavis shyly admitted, but she grew anxious when she was rewarded with complete silence. Out of desperation she suddenly stopped the dance and hugged him tightly, feeling relieved when he gently returned her gesture.

"It's not your fault." She whispered softly, burying her head in his chest.

* * *

(On another place)

Natsu sneaked soundlessly all around the place, as his previous hiding spot -a.k.a. balcony- suffered an unexpected visit, causing him to leave in hurry.

People were starting to get either romantic or drunk with each other, and that narrowed his options of places to hide.

Natsu honestly didn't have much stealth skills, the reason he succeeded in that stupid guild as one of them was because he was made a commander for his power and that's why no one questioned what he did.

That's why it wasn't exactly surprising when he stumbled while running, and the sound of crash attracted lots of people, even more when some lady shouted who he is across the hall.

He didn't like the horde of females that headed his way after the loud announcement of his identity, so he did the first thing that came to his mind.

He ran.

But the bitches followed him.

He turned around a corner abruptly, trying the old trick when the masses that follow you run still straight after you take a turn.

So he waited for them to run past him.

…

…

Surprisingly enough, it worked.

If he still wasn't in potential danger, Natsu would have laughed his ass off at their stupidity, but he had to suppress it now.

"Do you need any help with that?" he jumped while shrieking when he heard a voice behind him. He turned towards the source of the sound when he noticed it was just a girl…shockingly a normal girl.

"Uh no thank you"

She giggled. "Are you sure?" she asked, and Natsu realized something.

"Wait, Lucy?!" he yelled out, even if he couldn't smell her through the mix of the awful perfumes, he still could recognize her voice well. "What the hell are you doing here?!"

She smiled. "I came to see you"

* * *

 **Yes I know its short Im sorry :/ I will try harder next time!**

 **Also, I apologize deeply for any mistakes I made, english is not my main language :)**

 **See you next time, and I hope you enjoyed this!**

 **Alaaaeeeer**


	15. Inerasable Sin

**Helloooo! Im sorry this took so long, but I have a trip incoming and had to buy all neccessary things since I didnt have a tent or sleeping bag and etc...**

 **Well anyhow! I also noticed that in the reviews on it doesnt show everyone that ever commented this story, and I felt really horrible when I realized I could have missed someone out :O So i decided that from now on I will be answering from the emails that always get sent into my inbox thingie, cause Im pretty sure you are all there :)**

 **(yes Im keeping all the reviews in my e-mail! JUDGE ME! :D)**

 **Also, my mouse broke...so Im kinda writing all my stories on tablet? xD**

 **Anyhow... onto your questions!**

 **Nettle29: Wow, thank you a lot for loving this, I honestly didn't think this was any better than the original anime. Unlike you tho, I hope that Gray will have some damn sense and the epic battle wont happen (but I know it will) between the two friends because I can feel my heart being torn apart just thinking about it. I also have to disagree with your opinion on Natsu, I mean, yes he is an idiot most of the times (a very cute one) and until the moment Zeref told him who he is he suffered the less loss in all of the Fairy Tail characters...but that also gave him something more, something what other characters dont have, and thats his naivety and desire to actually reason with the villain they face and see where he went off from the right path, he tries to understand him and he tries to save him, unlike anyone else. (But I seriously despise him that he didnt try that with Zeref, while he is the most not evil villain of them all). The guild reaction will be shown later, I promise you that, give them some time to get home alright? As for Levy, she got a mission to find out something in the council or not? As far as I know that can take ages...I have a plan for her getting back just after Gray gets his ass back so he could hear what she finds out as well. (SO HE WOULD SUFFER MORE MUAHAHAHAHA)**

 **...ehm..ignore that...xD**

 **Guest: Nope, this is not Nalu story, this is Gratsu story, aka shonen ai one, tho its not concentrated on the romance. I'm definitely gonna use your idea about Acnologia having to save him sometime tho...**

 **Writing bunny: As far as the gemini idea goes, there are rules that still apply, that is, gemini cant copy anyone whos stronger than the holder of their key, right? Lucy cant possibly compare to Natsu or Zeref. Though I can imagine just how much she would ask the poor celestial spirits.**

 **frozem1: Ah, its okay really, you dont have to :) But I appreciate it, really ;)**

 **Deboo: Lucy fans on the move :O Poor Natsu...**

 **dragonslayer111: Calm down :D Not Nalu story, no worries xD After Im back from the trip I should be updating faster than this, so please bear with me one more slow chapter :)**

 **IndigoWolfie: oh you just wait until Gray will be in serious pinch,...that will be the best CHAPTER EVER xD**

 **0FairyTail0: I can see you are excited xDDD**

 **laxusdrayer2324: Acnologia is really nice right :) But I got an eye for other character that he would be good with MUAHA**

 **Titania1796: Im sorry, this isnt Nalu story :/**

 **Kori no Koibito: Shush, Gray is healing up in his newfound cottage with just few creepy people watching his every move, what could possibly go wrong?**

 **(okay well...that wasnt really comforting...but he is okay...for now :D He and the guild will be in next chapter :))**

 **Wacko12: NOT NALU :D**

 **Ladyfire-Azura: WARNING: ANGSTY ZERVIS ALL THE WAY xD Hmm, I have some plans for other Alvarez shields to show up, but I dont think I will be able to introduce all of them :/**

 **Guess thats all ! I really hope I didnt miss anyone this time :) Enjoy the chapter !**

* * *

„ _I came to see you"_

Those words rang in his ears like echo, and he started to slowly but surely panic.

What was she doing here? Wasn't Fairy Tail supposed to believe he was a demon? Weren't they supposed to despise him for stealing Lumen Histoire?

What was going on here? What was their plan?

As Natsu tried to sort out his mind Lucy watched the rapid changes of emotions in his eyes and inwardly she grinned, proud that it was her who made the fire mage utterly confused.

He was still pretty out of it as the blonde just stood there calmly waiting for any response, but that wasn't the problem now.

The problem was that a frigging _Fairy Tail_ mage was in Alvarez in the _damn castle_ freely moving and _attending_ the ball with Zeref present and unaware of any danger as he was too focused on Mavis.

What if there were more? What if his brother was in danger and this was just a distraction?

What if…?

He swiftly turned around and wanted to find Dimaria to get her to do the damn job of keeping the guards alert because of situations like _these_ and quickly warn Zeref about the risks.

But before he could take even the first step something-or rather _someone_ caught his hand and he turned around to see Lucy, whom was desperately holding onto his arm and looking as if she was on the verge of tears.

"Lucy…?" he asked hesitantly, not sure anymore what should he make out of the situation.

"What happened to you? To our times together? Did you really just play along to know where Lumen Histoire was?" she questioned him, in middle of the sentence breaking into sobs that at the end turned into uncontrollable cries, and he felt his heart clench in guilt aware that he was the one who made Lucy feel that way.

Out of pure habit when he was still member of the guild he hugged her, holding her closely to him gently, trying to calm her down.

He hated how she put her head on his chest.

He hated the way she held onto him, as if he was going to disappear any second.

And he hated the fact that he knew he couldn't do anything more than this for her.

He put them through hell with the things that followed his death, all of them.

Because he died, Zeref tried to get him back, abandoning his bright future of probably one of the most famous geniuses in the world of magic, becoming cursed in the process and known as the most evil Black Mage in history instead. His plans how to revive Natsu doomed Erza and Jellal and many other young kids with Tower of Heaven. His desire to get killed slaughtered Gray's family bringing despair to the ice mage along with his resurrected father, who believed exactly the same thing as Gray and tried to crave revenge. And the eclipse portal for dragon slayers to travel 400 years into future took away Lucy's mother and her ancestor as well.

No matter how you looked at it, all lead to Natsu's death in the beginning, if he haven't died…

…or better yet, if he wasn't born at all…

Unconsciously he tightened his grip around her, not paying attention enough to realize she wasn't crying anymore and just watched him with curiosity.

She saw the undeniable pain in his eyes, the way he was so torn between holding her and pushing her away, the way he wanted to run yet at the same time stay.

He still cared for his friends, she could see that. Lucy knew something about this was fishy, not to mention that Happy wouldn't stay with Natsu if he also didn't believe it was the right choice.

The question was…what was keeping them at Zeref's side then? She saw Mavis as well choosing to stay by the black wizard's side…what was the reason? All three of them were very pure at heart persons, why would they choose to side against their friends?

Unless there was more to the story than they were told, and as Lucy believed in that little spark of hope, she sought out Natsu today in Alvarez main castle with the Emperor here, knowing that she was basically putting herself onto silver plate right before her enemies if Natsu was truly the demon Gray recognized him as.

But instead of using this opportunity to seize her, Natsu panicked, and the moment she lost her resolve to stay strong in front of him he reacted the way old Natsu would, coming right to her rescue and comfort.

Which made her able to see right through his act of evil devil.

Why would they need to steal Lumen Histoire if they never used it? Why did Zeref bring Mavis back?

Why…?

.

.

.

She had to stop the line of her thoughts as she felt herself being pushed away and she looked up to see Natsu giving her a blank stare. Then he reached out his hand towards her and she looked at it, bewildered about what he was about to do.

"Since this is a ball, why don't we dance?" he asked her softly, his eyes unreadable.

She wavered in taking the outstretched hand, but once she saw the onlookers behind the pink haired mage, she decided that change of surroundings would do them good.

* * *

How much did he wish for this?

How long did he wait for this moment?

So why…

…why now when it finally happened…

…he wasn't able to do anything about it?

Why, when he had Mavis right there in his arms, couldn't he bring himself to tell her what he wanted to say for all those 100 years?

He could see it in her eyes…she longed for this as well…

…so what was holding him back?

Both of them were still hidden behind the pillar, but stopped dancing long ago, staring into each other eyes for what felt like eternity.

Seeing the purity…the innocence…the light and warmth in Mavis eyes…

…it reminded him of when he first met Natsu at Tenroujima, his eyes were the same.

However, the moment he chose to side with Zeref, the second he decided to stay and love the black mage as younger brother would…

…his eyes lost some of their light, the warmth that was so radiant in them before dulled towards everyone but Zeref and the purity vanished with all the dark things he was forced to endure once more as his memory returned.

Would that happen to Mavis too?

Would he taint her eyes with sorrow, as he did with his little brother?

Would he be able to bear the guilt, knowing fully well it was his fault and only his?

He thought he was certain about his goals…about what he wanted to do…

…but now he wasn't so sure anymore…nothing made sense anymore.

His eyes started to sting, and from the worry that appeared in Mavis eyes he realized that the warmth sliding across his cheeks were probably tears.

He couldn't bear it…the guilt if Mavis's light dimmed even just a little…

…so that's why…

"I'm sorry…" he whispered and let go of the only girl he ever loved…"…I can't." His voice cracked midway, and he was unable to hold back his sobs anymore and so he swiftly turned around and vanished into the crowd, leaving Mavis all on her own with sadness and sympathy written all across her face, looking at the spot Zeref stood at few seconds ago with longing she tried to suppress.

* * *

"So…since when exactly do you dance?" she asked him mockingly, watching him awkwardly shift around and trying to find the right position they should be in for the slow dance that was playing out in the background.

He just grumbled at her response, taking one of her hands while putting his other on her waist and pulling her closer to him, as Brandish taught him to, but was surprised when Lucy giggled and took a step back.

"Dummy, that distance is meant for couples!" she laughed at him as his cheeks became pink and heard him muttering something under his breath as he averted his gaze away from her, though she understood only 'stupid Brandish' and deduced that the said person must be the one who _tried_ to teach him anything for this ball he was forced on by his brother with that ridiculous letter.

She reminisced about the contents of the letter and now that she knew that it was from the Black Mage himself, she couldn't help but find it funny.

After all, who would have expected he was apparently that 'sadistic person into bondage?', as Gray mentioned when they read the letter?

Definitely not Lucy…nuh uh.

She smiled fondly at him as he finally started to move slowly –more like swinging from one side to the other, but Lucy appreciated the gesture, really- even if he still refused to directly look at her.

"I guess you won't tell me the reason?" she asked playfully, the smile still present on her face, and she observed as his sight lowered even more, now completely staring onto the ground.

She knew this peaceful moment between them wasn't going to last much longer, and she was proved right as she heard the song slowly reaching its climax and quietly fading away. She stopped their little dance –if you could call it that- and hugged him around his neck tightly, not wanting to let go, but at the same time knowing there was no other choice.

And he knew it as well.

"I will find it. The reason why you left. But until then, this is goodbye." She whispered to him, and he instinctively let go of her, probably for the first time since they appeared in the crowd looking straight into her eyes and chuckled.

"Good luck." He answered and waved at her, with his back already facing her and leaving Lucy again alone.

But this time she was sure that they would meet again.

* * *

Both of them were sitting back in the main room, away from the ball, loud music, and the drunk people as well.

That was also the reason why they could afford to disappear, because no one even cared anymore if they were present or not.

Natsu got partly rid of the ridiculous clothing they put on him with such difficulties, now only in the vest and baggy pants, surprised Zeref didn't make a move to get himself out of that stupid outfit as well but seeing the miserable expression his brother wore Natsu was convinced he was preoccupied with another thoughts.

Which may or may not be tracked down to a certain blonde girl they brought to the castle not long ago.

"I take it that the night for you didn't go well?"

Natsu received just groan as response, and when he moved closer to his sibling he started to notice closely the state the ex-dark mage was in.

His eyes were puffy and red, his cheeks stained by dried up trails of tears, and the way he just sat there…unmoving…his head lolled back as much as the couch would allow, his hands just thrown at his sides lifelessly…

…something was up, and Natsu swore if Mavis did something…

…well let's say he will have a talk with her, since this was exactly what he was talking about when he _didn't_ want her to stay with them.

He pulled Zeref into a hug, one hand on his waist holding him securely, while the other ruffled his hair in order to console him. "What happened?" he asked softly, hoping to not reopen the wound which caused the state Zeref was currently in.

"I couldn't do it…" he choked while sobbing quietly and Natsu waited patiently for him to continue while massaging the raven haired boy's head. "…I just couldn't…accept it…" he broke into cries, and Natsu strengthened his grip around him.

He really didn't want to push his brother into saying more, but he couldn't help unless he knew the situation, so he pried. "Couldn't accept what?"

By now Zeref had his head completely buried into Natsu's chest, tears uncontrollably falling from his eyes. "…the fact…that she would end up like you…"

…

…

Huh?

That comment irritated the fire mage, but he decided to stay calm and _not_ to punch his brother.

He worked up enough self-control just because Zeref was practically clinging onto him and decided to question what that was all about. "Do you think I ended up bad?" he asked, the disbelief clear in his tone even to the now out of it once black wizard.

"I don't know…I honestly don't know…Im really happy that you are here…but are you? Are you glad that you are here? Because your eyes…"The raven haired mage pulled away, staring at anything but Natsu. What was with his eyes? What did Zeref try to say? And if Natsu didn't want to be here, he obviously wouldn't! "…they…don't shine as they did when I first met you anymore…and I wondered…if I could take that to happen to Mavis too…and I just couldn't…I couldn't…"

"Shhh" he interrupted him, deciding he didn't want to hear this anymore. He put his hands onto Zeref's cheeks and forced him to look him straight in the eyes. "Now, calm down, okay? I can't bear this crap you are saying anymore." Zeref tried to look away but Natsu wouldn't have any of that. "Look at me." He demanded, waiting until the black wizard did as he was told. "Staying here was my choice, it was what my heart told me was right, and I do not regret even a second of my time here with you…and Acnologia" he added as an afterthought the apocalypse dragon's name, since he was really fun to tease. "It is not your fault if their light or whatever isn't as radiant as before, I was just disappointed at how did Fairy Tail…well just Gray actually…take me being a demon…but that will go away after some time, since I'm making joyful memories here, in Alvarez." He pulled Zeref back into hug and continued. "You are not the problem, you are the cure, so start behaving like one, idiot."

He heard his brother chuckle, and realized this was probably the first time someone called the almighty prodigy an idiot, causing Natsu to smirk with mischief. "Mavis would shine even brighter with you, I can assure you that…, putting aside you probably made her cry and punch your face she might drew somewhere since you decided to refuse her after all the trouble we went through to get her back cause of a dumb reason like that." He watched Zeref pale considerably and couldn't help but stifle a laugh.

He started to slowly ruffle the raven hair again, wondering if this will become a habit, and he put his head on top of Zeref's while closing his eyes and relaxing. "Not everything is your fault, so stop blaming yourself for every little thing that happens around you." He whispered and continued to play with his brother's hair until the older boy fell into peaceful sleep.

Natsu had to admit, he lost a lot of things since the day he and other dragon slayers were transported 400 years into future.

And from the day he 'betrayed' Fairy Tail he lost his ability to smile his trademark grin as well.

But that was okay with him…

…as long as Zeref was happy.

* * *

 **WELL AS I SAID, GRAY AND THE GUILD IN NEXT CHAPTER :D**

 **Not gonna make this A/N longer than it already is but...**

 **...Im sorry for any grammar mistakes, and the next chapter should may be another slow update because im on a trip, but then I should be updating faster :)**

 **Thank you all for your support, I really appreciate every single opinion of yours and I am glad that you have some ideas how to improve this story as well, and I really value everything you say and try to use the good ideas that go along with the storyline too :)**

 **TILL NEXT TIME, ALAERIIIIS! :)**


	16. Gray's Day Off

**Hello! FINALLY! FINAL EXAMS ARE OVER! AND YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS?!**

 **HELL YEA, MORE OFTEN UPDATES!**

 **MUAHAHAHAHHAA! :D**

 **Anyhow! I still dont have the guild reactions finished, but I didnt want to wait any longer with posting something, although this chapter and the next one - where the guild will be- will be happening at the exact same time.**

 **You all were so worried about Gray, I gave him a little relaxing chapter :D Hope ya all agree with me that he could have used one, especially after seeing his closet :O**

 **Well! Onto your comments**

 **Guest: I know, arent they cuties just all?**

 **laxusdrayer2324: Zeref is too busy with his own :/**

 **ShipperGirl123: Well thank you! *takes the heart and throws it out of the window* THIS. IS. ANGST. FIC! Or at least, will be soon, I plan to add after guild a chapter about Happy, and then it starts MUAHAHAHA.  
Have I told you Im evil? :D**

 **0FairyTail0: Aww, thank you :) Im glad it doesnt bother you, but I shall still try my best!**

 **frozem1: Thank you, but I may dissapoint you, since this isnt a Nalu story :/**

 **dragonslayer1111: Trust me, the ball scene didnt go as I wanted to either QQ AND SHHH! THOSE THINGS WITH LEVY WILL BE COMING LATER! Seriously, do you share the same brain as me? Because I know that sometimes at exams I lose it...**

 **Ladyfire-Azula: Now, it wouldnt be Hurt/comfort fic without the pain would it? AS IF I WOULD MAKE IT THAT EASY! :D**

 **Titania1796: does he...or does he not...:D Tough choice...:D**

 **So! That would be for this! Im sorry if there are some mistakes in the graphic or maybe paragraphs as well, but for some reason ffn didnt want to upload any files so I just had to copy the content to another file I already had saved in doc manager and some spaces I cant even erase...I will work on it this week I swear.**

 **Anyhow! Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

While both our Emperors were busy with their ball troubles, the morning after the big event one certain devil slayer pondered his current _big_ problem.

No, it wasn't anything really tragic, don't worry – he healed up from his injuries pretty fast with the medicine he brought with himself from Fiore. The troubles escalated from one, simple and little thing.

And as the mentioned boy shuffled through all his drawers in his little cottage, his observers couldn't help but sweatdrop at the antics of throwing everything everywhere while trying to find something that has been probably buried under those piles of random things.

The problem was, you see…

…our beloved Gray has run out of food.

Now, he wasn't a glutton like a certain fire mage, but even for someone like him it's easy to get hungry when you didn't pack up for a long journey into enemy's territory.

It was his fifth day staying at Alvarez's forest, wandering around and changing his sleep place every single day, afraid to be found by another one of Zeref's shields. He didn't know why, but he knew that if they found him they wouldn't bother with something simple as mercy, unlike Natsu, that every time Gray lost to him -which was always since he became demon- let him go back to his camp and recover, then after some time try again. He already found something akin to _'home'_ here – a simple small wooden house with kitchen, bedroom and bathroom in deepest depths of the woods, but wasn't sure how long it was gonna last. He noticed sometimes a very faint presence when he was outside trying to find something for dinner or breakfast, but considered himself safe so far.

He always took longer paths with many twists back to his home, adding certain ice clones of himself all around to create confusion, which disappeared after some time cause of the lack of magic to make them stand proud and still – meaning they didn't give away to anyone else that he was present here.

BUT…living on mushrooms and roasted fish for almost a week wasn't a good thing, he knew that.

The ice mage was assured that no one - except Brandish + the guy whom was with her and Natsu- knew his appearance. He didn't think the dragon slayer would say anything about him to public, since he would be surely questioned about it by his fellows later, if they cared for him even a little that is. So, unless he accidentaly threw his shirt of -which he made sure he wouldn't by freezing it to his body- to show his guild mark, he was convinced that no one will recognize him as enemy and he will be free to refill his stock.

He despised the fact that he needed help form an enemy, regardless of it being just something simple as food or new clothes, as his was burned, tattered and dirty, but he found no other way, and he sighed when he stood in front of the main gate that lead inside the large town with the castle almost hovering over it with it with it's astounding height.

The gate wasn't something to laugh about as well, giving the illusion of being out of pure gold as from behind it shone the sharp sunlight, making you almost blind just from simple glance at it.

He guessed he should have come later at night…but then the shops wouldn't be open, and he would go back empty handed.

He was nervous to take the first step, as if it would alert his presence, and he was aware of the strange looks he was given from the people around him, although he could hear the few chuckles that escaped him and he suddenly felt embarrassed, realizing how must he have looked, traveler scared to enter the glorious town.

Well, at least he knew he wasn't as suspicious as he thought.

While he was here, he could afford some good bath as well. He bathed in the cold river that ran through the forest every night, but he doubted that it was doing much, especially without things like soap and so on. Maybe staying somewhere at hot springs tonight might not be such a bad idea either, he took all his money with him after all.

There was that temptation to get a room in some inn too, but that would probably be too much.

Yea…he definitely could use some luxury today, not to mention his current outfit didn't look after all the battles good either. Not that throwing it around when he was alone helped at all. He could let someone wash that while he was in the bath.

Yep…definitely a good idea to spend today in town, at least he could get a little more information about this city, and maybe, since he was the prince, about Natsu as well.

He started by buying new clothes while getting weird stares from everyone around him, not that he blamed them. He didn't notice how _messy_ he appeared to be until he saw himself in one of the mirrors that lay somewhere on the street in front of few shops.

He stumbled upon few of those that sold something he would like, but none let him try it on himself seeing the state he was in, and so he ended up buying random clothing.

However…

… the time went in slow motion as he realized that the woman at the cash wanted some other coins than he had, and Gray wondered if he was supposed to just run with the things - catching some attention, probably not being able to get back in town or awkwardly, after blocking the queue for so long, confess it and get everything back into their place and calmly leave.

His pride was too big for the second option, so he scanned his surroundings for the best route of escape in panic, flinching slightly as someone slapped money on the counter seconds after and he swiftly turned around to see who.

It was a girl.

Not just any girl, mind you. She had long pink hair tamed into ponytail with black rubber band to which a white rose was attached.

She wore black cloak, similar to Natsu's with some kind of gothic corset that barely covered her chest, although it did leave part of her stomach revealed. A way too short mini shorts which mixed white and black color in many ways, and he didn't dare to trace her legs down to see what kind of shoes she had.

"U-Uh…" he stuttered, finding himself unable to make any coherent response, as she stared at him with her emerald eyes.

She broke the little magic she seemed to cast over Gray as she turned back to the lady at the cash and started saying something he couldn't process, and he realized that they were _still_ blocking the queue.

He didn't even dare to glimpse behind to see the angered faces.

She then took the bag with his things given to her by the lady and Gray's hand, pulling him away from the shop as she broke into run.

It was not until they were far away from the place when she finally let him stop and take a breath in middle of some park or whatever.

She appeared confused at his panting and titled her head to a side. "Are you alright?" she asked in worry, and visible relaxed once Gray gave her a nod. "Are you a traveler?"

He lifted his head enough to be able to see her, finally calming himself down and he swallowed in order to get his voice under control. "You could say that…thanks for help though, I wasn't aware Alvarez had different coins than-" he stopped, realizing he said too much. A look of horror crossed his face as he was aware that it would take just one shout from the girl and he would be in serious trouble.

But it didn't look like it bothered her.

"You are from Fiore?"

He nodded hesitantly, wondering what she had in store for him once that information was confirmed.

"And you didn't take into account that this is another continent?! How stupid you can be, thinking we have same currency here!" she started laughing hysterically, falling onto the ground while clutching her stomach, as if in pain.

He ignored the color that stained his cheeks as he felt ashamed that he indeed didn't consider it…not that he thought that he will ever need to get in any town here, he just planned to meet Natsu and kill him the first day and go home.

Guess that didn't quite work out.

He watched the girl still lying on the ground, occasionally banging with her hands the poor floor and sighed. "How much do I own you? In Fiore's amount, if you could."

She stopped her hysterics once she heard him, although the smile was still present on her face. "Nah, it's alright, I have plenty of money you see."

 _"Rich people…"_ he thought.

"Although, it seems this wasn't the only thing you wanted to get. Want me to show you around? The pay is on me of course, unless my presence is too much for you to handle." She smirked.

"I couldn't possibly let you do that" Gray rejected, aware that this girl did already more than enough. Besides, it would be against his nature to let someone -let alone a lady- buy things for him.

But she just shrugged it off, still holding the plastic bag with his things and started dragging him somewhere else.

And it continued that way for the rest of the day as well.

The first place she dragged him to was some artificial hot springs in middle of town, and he almost jumped out of his own skin when she just casually joined him in the men's bath. Sure, those were spacious, and she probably reserved it for only two of them, but still!

Next was food, and oh god…he had luck on meeting gluttons it seemed, as this girl packed for him two full heavy bags that she _refused_ to help carrying with, continuing to hold just his clothes.

In the end, he was forced to attend with her a festival at night, as a compensation that she helped him out.

Talk about bitch. He didn't ask for it.

Nevertheless, he obliged, knowing far too well to not mess with women, if this one was just any similar to Erza, he would be in serious trouble.

He didn't have the desire to die before seeing E.N.D. at his mercy.

Interpret that however you like.

He sighed, winning for her some prizes that she anyway just stuffed into the bag with his clothes, and after the fireworks they finally parted.

By the time he arrived at his little home in the woods, he was utterly devastated.

He honestly didn't think that shopping could be so… _lethal._

Gray just threw the bags atop the piles that stayed there from this morning, when he was searching for anything edible to eat.

He didn't care about any of the mess, even though he almost tripped a few times, but the only thing in his sight was his bed, and as he slumped against it he couldn't be anymore grateful for the roof above his head, shielding from any uncomfortable things, like rain or cold wind.

He noticed something shining in one of his bags, but decided he will look it up later.

That is, if curiosity wasn't so annoying and didn't keep him awake the whole time, itching to get up and look what was inside. He huffed as he grumpily stood up with some difficulties, since his body had already started to relax, but he ignored that and snatched the thing which was the reason for his bad mood.

The ice mage felt guilty about calling the girl with rude nicknames as he stared at the wallet filled with money and a note.

 _"Make sure you are ready next time for your travels, idiot!"_

He smiled, he had to admit that she helped him take his minds off of some things. Besides, it was fun to do such things once in a while, he believed after today, although he had to make sure he wouldn't go with anyone that would take hours asking him how she looked in various clothing (Juvia).

He sighed, realizing he didn't even ask the girl's name, he could have gotten some info about the Emperors from her too…

Well, none of it mattered now, what was done was done, he was grateful to her. Not to mention he felt somewhere deep in his chest that he was going to meet her again.

He went back to his bed, smile still adoring his face.

It didn't take long for slumber to overtake him the second he closed his eyes, and for some reason he felt like he slept better that night than any time before.

* * *

"So, how was the day in the town? Did it work?" a raven haired man asked the pink haired girl – whom soon after turned into a pink haired guy with the same features, although the clothes began to change to his normal outfit – a black cloak with baggy white pants. He missed his beloved scarf as that was a dead giveaway of his identity, and he wanted to be able to walk the town freely without the rabid fangirls standing in his way at every turn.

He grinned, still not so close as to his known trademarks ones, but close enough. "It was amazing! No one in the town recognized me, your potions are the best Nii-sama!" he declared.

Zeref smiled, glad that it worked. They tried to find various ways to move around the town without any interruptions, since the Alvarez shields became annoying with shopping for them. They even wore wigs or tried transformation magic, but each time the something they did failed and they found themselves on the run from group of citizens.

They didn't stay close enough to hear what exactly did they want, but all their instincts told them to run, so it was just natural to do so.

"Im glad." He uttered, turning around with a smile and disappearing in the shadow of the dark hallways, leaving the other alone.

A nostalgic smile appeared on Natsu's face. _"Completely no one…"_ '

* * *

 **So so, what did you think about Grays day off?  
**

 **Epic right!...I hope I made the identity of the "girl" known enough for all to understand :)**

 **Well, see ya in next chapter!**

 **Alaeriiis! :)**


	17. Guild's Decision

**Okay, Im really sorry it took so long, although it shouldnt, but I had some kind of burnt out syndrome.**

 **Seriously, I was sitting at my desk writing every frigging day...but it always went like: I write a sentence, look at it...AND THEN ERASE IT :D**

 **Dunno what that was all about, but I hope it goes away soon :O**

 **Well that aside, I hope you will like the guilds point of view!**

 **Anyhow, onto your questions!**

 **Guest: yea, being chased feels awful, especially by fangirls for Zeref when you already have dark guilds fawning all over you :D**

 **dragonslayer111: I guess so? :D (dont steal my brain when I got exams please :D) anyhow! this aint gonna be long chapter, but the next one should be, so I hope you will enjoy it :)**

 **Angel Lightwolf: aww, thank you very much! The saddness Natsu holds is not gonna be revealed to anyone but TWO persons, and nor Zeref nor Lucy nor Happy are among them. Lucy is not gonna be the one to find out, its gonna be questioned, but in the very last chapter.**

 **Binto: Oh god yes! :D**

 **Kori No Koibito: was it? :O**

 **IndigoWolfie: I think all men and children are poor when they are dragged shopping with their wife/mother :O THOSE HOURS YOU WAIT JUST FOR THE DAMN WOMAN TO CHOOSE ONE DRESS ARE AGONIZING!**

 **Ladyfire-Azula: Oh god no (ACTUALLY BIG YES) DO YOU KNOW WHAT EVERYTHING THEY WOULD DESTROY? AND THEY WOULDNT PROBABLY EVEN BUY WHATS NEEDED LIKE BRANDISH WOULD JUST STUFF INTO THE SHOPPING CART EVERYTHING THAT CAUGHT HER EYE AND AUGUST WOULD LET HER! :D (Im so gonna read it, tell me when you start :D)**

 **King of spiders: Oh yea, the gratsu moments are coming up MUAHAAHA BUT NOT WITHOUT SOME ANGST OF COURSE :D**

 **frozem1: aww, thank you sweetie :)**

 **0FairyTail0: I will have you know that Gray in manga competes with Natsu in the food eating! IT WAS IN THE MANGA IT IS OFFICIAL! SO NO COMPLAINS :D**

 **Okay, that should be all, thank you all for reading this and Im really sorry it took so long, I will try my best for it to not take so long .**

 **Im apologizing if there are any grammar mistakes, its not my native language, have a nice time reading it!**

* * *

Two weeks.

Two weeks since they found out about Natsu.

Two weeks since they haven't heard anything from him.

Two weeks since Gray disappeared.

And for those two weeks, the guild's days kept getting quieter and quieter. With everyone on the edge, waiting patiently for any kind of information that could prove the reality wrong.

But the weird thing was exactly – two weeks. 14 days, which Zeref had time to annihilate them, as he promised. Fairy Heart was in his hands, Natsu was in his hands, and yet nothing happened.

The fact that they saw Mavis alive was weird as well, not to mention she decided against coming back.

Could be an illusion, could be manipulation, could be a clone. But it could as well be truth.

Natsu decided to stay in Alvarez from his own volition, and so did Mavis. Although the second was an assumption.

The question everyone dreaded was why. What were they missing from the story, that kept these two on their enemy's side?

Master Makarov sent Levy to investigate into the Magic Council, but so far there was no word from her. Lucy went to attend the ball as a guest, trying to get some information from Natsu, as he surely would be there according to the previous letter.

But she hasn't come back either.

The tension in the guild was unimaginable, the request board overflowing, yet no one seemed to care in that moment.

Heck, you could say something was wrong even without people inside. The guild was as clean as it has never been, new chairs and tables undamaged, barrels with beer full, quiet surrounding the mini version of castle that the guild was.

There were no celebrations, no parties, and Magnolia started to suspect that something was wrong, yet the aura surrounding the building kept them away from trying to find out.

It was scary, it was gloomy, and this time it wasn't even Juvia's fault, even though she was worried about Gray, who went to battle Natsu on his own.

They all hoped he was okay, and that the fact that he wasn't back yet meant that Natsu was alive as well. Fairy Tail didn't even consider Gray being harmed, much less by Natsu, because they still believed in the dragon slayer, and that simple image with him having Mavis over his shoulder and walking away wasn't enough to shatter their trust.

Yet, the silence was starting to get to them, and they were very much confused about what to do.

Makarov wasn't on it much better, he was always sitting in some secluded place and lost deep in thoughts, unaware of anything around him.

But one day, after such time that felt like eternity for the once cheerful guild, the silence finally shattered.

It was day like any other, started like any other, but ended so very differently, that it was surprise it hasn't shocked anyone.

Because that one day was what they were waiting for all this time.

It wasn't sunny that day, no. The sun hid behind the grey clouds, not giving any chance for the warmth to seep through them, and with the chilly wind, which was ripping off the colorful autumn leafs of the already bare trees, the only thing that you could say to describe the day was cold.

But that didn't bother the person walking in certain direction confidently. Because she was bringing hope.

Hope to the ones, who were lost.

She couldn't wait to see their faces when she told them the news, although talking with Master first seemed to be better idea, otherwise she could just cause confused acts with no lead.

The thought of imagining them jumping around happily brought smile upon her face, and getting herself excited, she fastened her movements.

She seriously couldn't wait any longer.

* * *

Makarov didn't exactly know what to expect when a cloaked figure showed up at the guilds doorstep and requested a conversation with him, but the way the person talked – desperate, yet hopeful – made him accept without hesitation.

And that's how he found himself in his messy office with the mysterious person. Papers were lying all around, covering the floor, and so he just motioned for her to sit on one of the stacks of papers while he sat across of her.

He knew he should be taking care of those letters, but he just couldn't seem to find the energy to do so anymore.

Upon sitting in middle of all the mess few long moments, he started to wonder if that person was ever gonna start, so he decided to take the initiative.

"So, what was it that you wanted to discuss with me?"

Her face was partly hidden by the hood, but he could see the smile that spread out on her face, which made him all the more curious, and he raised his eyebrow in question.

She then proceeded to take off the hood, revealing long blonde hair, and chocolate brown eyes, and his eyes widened.

"Lucy?!" he shouted in disbelief.

"Shhh! Quiet!" she hushed him quickly, not wanting for the whole guild to hear yet and cause panic.

He stopped abruptly as he saw her waving her hands around, realizing there has to be something more to the long expected visit.

Then he recalled where she went and began questioning.

"So, did you learn something in there?"

And oh, how his hopes got up when she nodded.

"I'm all ears."

She sat back and took a deep breath before explaining. "Well, I came in there and met Natsu – who had a little problem with too much attention, would you believe it?" She giggled to herself. "Anyway, I asked him few questions and…came to a conclusion."

"Yes?" he asked expectantly, unknowingly getting closer, as if she was about to whisper a secret that would change everything. Although he frowned once he saw the sadness hidden in her eyes as she looked down and continued.

"He…won't come back." She informed him, aware that was the fact he was afraid of, and her suspicions were confirmed as she saw him looking down in disappointment. "But…" Lucy now lifted her up and stared confidently at the Master. "…he's still the same Natsu we know."

"What do you mean?" he asked curiously.

She scowled. "He…still cares about me – about us. The second I started becoming unstable he came to my rescue as always…however…"

"However…?" he pressed her on.

"…there is something holding him back. I could see it in his eyes that he didn't want to let go, but something made him do so. Something he strongly believes in. Something about Zeref, that he wants to protect."

 _That_ made Makarov think, and it as well confirmed what they were all thinking so far.

There was something missing in the whole story, and that thing made both Natsu and Mavis abandon them and join Zeref. But what could it be?

No one knew, and the two didn't seem to want to share the secret.

But why? What was that _thing_ that suddenly changed them?

Well, he could give a reason for Mavis behavior, which was the romantic story between her and the dark mage she shared with Makarov, but Natsu's reason seemed to be the important one, and unknown one as well.

This was starting to become more and more complicated each second.

"And what are you suggesting we do?"

"Find out"

He shifted his gaze off of the floor towards her, watching the silent, yet strong emotions swirl in her eyes. He knew finding out was the best way how to do this, but they didn't even know where to start searching.

"How?" he pressed, hoping the blonde girl in front of him had some kind of idea in her head already.

But instead, she sighed. "I'm not exactly sure, he won't tell us anything, and Mavis probably won't talk about it either, not that we could sneak up to her, considering she's living at the castle along with Zeref and the Alvarez twelve shields. The only way how to find out is by our own hands, from outside."

"For example?"

Lucy swallowed, hoping that her idea would work. "We already have Levy searching The Council for any kind of connection Zeref and Natsu could have, and while she's working at that, I wondered if we could get out something from the people that were studying Zeref all along."

This is the part where Makarov's curiosity reached it's peak, and he wanted nothing more than for her to continue. "And that may be?"

He realized, as he saw the smirk on her face, that the thing she was about to say will sound crazy, but he couldn't possibly fathom how much until he heard it, although it did make sense if one looked at it from another point of view.

"The Dark Guilds."

* * *

The plan seemed insane if one heard it for the first time, but more you thought about it, more sense it made. Not to mention that some fun fight would surely lift the spirits up in the gloomy main hall.

So, when every member was watching him as he stood on the fence of the upper floor along with Lucy – whom everyone was glad to see – he didn't have any doubts as he told them the plan.

Their eyes were widened, their jaws almost on the floor, and they remained motionless in shock for a few moments.

Until a shout of hurray's broke through, the silence which enveloped the guild finally gone, and the thought of kicking some asses _while_ getting again closer to their favorite dragon slayer made them celebrate until the morning.

Makarov observed his children from above proudly, pleased that they may have at least partly gotten over the loss of their core member. But there was still a lot of pain to go through, and the path before them was neither easy nor short one. They will have to face the reality each with their own way, and he hoped that they will have enough willpower to pull through.

They made a plan so far, but there were lot of fairy tales told about Zeref, and they had no way how to recognize the fake and real ones. It was minimum chance they will actually find out something. Well, at least it brought back the usual spark the guild had, as long as they believed it will help, it's gonna be alright. That however didn't change the fact that the only one who could possibly find something useful was Levy, regardless of the lack of messages from her.

There was still a chance she needs to dig deeper, Makarov wouldn't be surprised if all information about Zeref was locked up tight somewhere, so he decided to give her as much time as she needed, believing that she could do it. She was a stubborn girl after all, when it came to something that mattered to her.

That still didn't ease his worries, and he himself was starting to balance on the edge, because there was something major happening and they had no idea what, even though it affected them all greatly.

That day, when he was in Alvarez trying to negotiate, something was different about the Dark Mage. He couldn't point out what exactly, and at the time he didn't really care, but now he regretted not questioning further.

Even so, there was no guarantee Zeref would tell him, which he probably wouldn't, keeping the mysterious aura around him as always.

He sighed and rubbed his temples, this all made his head hurt, and reminding himself that day didn't help at all.

This all was just confusing, and he really wished Natsu would tell them instead of shouldering the burden on his own.

Then again, the way Gray reacted, he probably knew why he didn't. Well, technically he did, but Makarov refused to believe Zeref and Natsu were brothers, much less that Natsu was some resurrected version of it in the form of a demon. He didn't care about the wings and so on they all saw, that could have been a lot of things _but_ being a demon. Natsu would have to be over 400 years old, and he _saw_ him grow up from a little kid to a grown adult.

Yes, there was the fact that he couldn't pass the age barrier with the whole Thunder Palace mess going on, but Gajeel could neither, so maybe it just had something against dragon slayers, because he was sure the iron dragon slayer was from this age.

…

Or was he?

Now, that was something he didn't consider, and it would make it all even more complicated.

* * *

 **I hope it made sense, and with this chapter, I am stopping to focus on the guild for a while, and will concentrate more on Gray, are you excited to see him in the next chapter?  
**

 **Haha, well of course you are!**

 **Time for angst! SEE YA!**

 **ALAERIIIS! :)**


	18. That Feeling When

**Hi there!**

 **Yes, yes I know Im late, and Im sorry, I had two weeks free house and we were enjoying it with friends to the fullest! :)**

 **We barelly slept too...:D**

 **\+ I had important exams last Saturday! On which I slept like 1hour + I kinda overslept...gonna have results in 4 days, so I wonder how that ended up :D**

 **Anyhow! Heres a next chapter! And thanks for your patience!**

 **Guest: Haha, thanks a lot for liking this :) Yea, I know its excrutiating to wait for the chapters, and this time it was purely my fault, but it was first time in two years I had free house, so I intended to enjoy it :) as for the other times, I just guess Im not a fast writer QQ Maybe I lack the talent...or free time :D**

 **draco7347: Well, thank you very much :)**

 **LoneWolfsRage: Pfft, whatcha talking about! Of course I will continue! :D**

 **Kori no Koibito: How mean! This is supposed to concentrate on the main two cuties in the anime! Which are Zeref and Natsu! :D**

 **Obinto: But no one knows that! :D Except Natsu and Zeref...and maybe few more...but not Fairy Tail! :D**

 **dragonslayer1111: Its always a cliffhanger, who do you think I am? :D Lucy was just trying to go back home while not being noticed, but chapter about her trying to be all sneaky didnt appeal to me, so I skipped it (or maybe I just dont like Lucy :D) Of course Acnologia is gonna have something important to do with Natsu, since I made him feel strongly about him ;) LOOONG chapters dont allow me to have as many cliffhangers as I can have cmon! :D**

 **laxusdrayer2324: Makarov refuses to believe someone is older than him and still looking so young and still so tall :P :D**

 **IndigoWolfie: Aw cmon, what do you all see in that guy?! ZEREF IS WAY CUTER!**

 **ef07: :D Looks like someone is eager for angst...not that I blame you :D Its still gonna take Fairy Tail few more chapters, I wanna try some Zervis now :) Makarov is concerned about a lot of things now, I wonder when he will get that heart attack already :O**

 **Ooops...:D**

 **Ladyfire-Azula: I read Alvarez Shenanigans (and laughed all the way, especially at the way to bribe Zeref :D) but I dont think Ive seen Alvarez shields going together shopping...maybe I overlooked it or forgot, will make sure to reread again :D Mavis is atm busy with her beloved, I wont let her leave before they at least kiss! :D (I think) What better choice does Fairy Tail have to find answers, when Alvarez is innaccesible to them, and in the Council they already got spy? Go and ask random people? :D I thought the dark guilds would at least make some sense :O some may even worship him so much as to try find something about his past or stalking him or whatever, I always find such people in Zeref concetrated stories :O**

 **And no, that would NOT be epic :D well not in this story, but I guess if you like insane guys then yes, it would be epic :D**

 **Writing bunny: You will see soon MUAHAHAHA, just one more fight! :D If you remember wrong, then that means I update REAAAAALLY too slow...and I apologize for that, Im probably the slowest updater on this network :D I dont think Im being inconsistent...or at least I hope, I just wanted to make Makarov, who always belives strongly into his "kids", and was proven by Natsu that the fire mage loved the guild and was prepared to fight to death for it many times, in denial that he could actually be someone evil, or even related to it.**

 **EtherealTullip: Lol, your comments always make me laugh, so lets make sure Gray uses that ticket to hell, okay ;)**

* * *

Everything was quiet, with all the danger being covered by the curtain of dark night, kept away only by a thin glass windows, which the loudly blowing wind knocked on from time to time. The moon observed with its contradicting gentle blue glow how the trees got bent by the only sound in the sea of silence – a thunder, spreading through the sky, making its way near the huge castle right in front of it.

Natsu didn't like thunderstorms, not since he was a kid. They were loud and didn't let him sleep, with his hearing getting even better after he "awakened", this night was pure hell. Everyone except him already slept, even the ex—dragon king, who's supposed to have at least half of Natsu's hearing.

Lucky Bastard.

He leaned onto the wall behind him and sighed, it's not like he needed to sleep anyway, but he is gonna be bored for few hours, and watching the droplets of rain dance on the window he sat near didn't appeal to him as much as it did half an hour ago.

There wasn't much to do, especially with August being present. The old guy liked his sleep alright, there was that one time when Natsu accidentaly woke him up at night, and oh, the terror of the consequences comes back to him anytime he recalls the events that followed, even now, as chill ran through him.

Not good to think about that now, nope.

He couldn't concentrate on anything, he mustn't be loud, and going outside while it rains cats and dogs didn't look like the best idea.

But sitting on his ass for another 7hours was unimaginable.

He was a fire mage, he could take some rain, it's not like he's not able to dry himself of in a second. Then again, where would he go? There were no shops open at this time, no festivals in this weather- although it's too late for those anyway -, and just roaming pointlessly in the empty wet streets in the cold seemed pointless to the demon.

Well, he will probably find something. If it comes to the worst, there is always the option of haunting Gray, he was sure the ice mage would run even in this storm after him, trying to fight.

With that thought in mind, Natsu slowly stood up and stretched. It looked like his muscles had gone sore from all the hours sitting on one place. He was not used to that.

He started to make his way towards the exit door – yes, a _door_ , he's gonna use a damn _door_ , because if he left his window open he would probably have his bed all wet from the wild rain that raged outside.

You didn't want to come home completely exhausted with no bed available, right? RIGHT?

However, when he was half on his way, he noticed that the lights were on in the main room. Curiosity killed a cat, yes – but he was a demon. No harm done looking.

And so he did.

Honestly, the sight wasn't pretty, because Natsu just knew he will be taking care of the state the room was in. It was a mess, papers scattered all around the floor, ink spilled over the table in front of the couch, and guess who was the sole reason?

Yup, that's right, none else than the Emperor himself.

But the funny thing was, he fell asleep with his face in the little ink puddle on the table, while sitting on the couch. Sure, that must have been uncomfortable, and yea, he probably pulled an all-nighter and Natsu shouldn't be laughing.

But..

…you know, seeing the ex-dark mage in such moments made the fire mage realize how innocent inside he truly was.

It was the same as he first saw Acnologia run away from kitchen in utter panic, as he accidentaly somehow set his tail on fire. Which Natsu had no idea why he didn't cover, it's not like he needed it in his human form, but everytime he asked, Acnologia would just ignore him.

What a weirdo.

Natsu smiled fondly, it wasn't like he had anything else to do…

He began to gather the documents lying everywhere, putting them on the clean side of the table. Then he proceeded to gently remove Zeref's head out of a table and lay him onto the couch, hoping he didn't choose uncomfortable position for his brother. Natsu let the ink on the table burn away as he chose the correct temperature, not damaging the furniture itself. Although, he kept the one on his brother's face, Invel is gonna have a lot of fun with that. After all, he liked to keep "His Majesty" on first place, and seeing him with black stain on his face will probably give the poor Winter General heart attack.

Not to mention the annoyance his brother is gonna feel. Oh, he is so gonna enjoy that. The demon grinned devilishly, already imagining the situation that was sure to ensue the next morning.

He tensed up immediately as he noticed his brother stirring in his sleep, mumbling something incoherent, completely unaware he just scared Natsu to death, as he thought he woke him up. But Zeref didn't give him any time to relax.

"Na-tsu…" he whimpered, his expression changing into painful one as he started to stir in his sleep. It looked like he was having a nightmare, but it seems the call of his name had casted some spell over the demon, and he stood frozen in spot. "Natsu…" he heard again, and the way Zeref started outstretching his hand towards him finally forced him into action as he speedily moved beside the couch, crouching in front and grabbing that hand.

"I'm here…" he whispered, still not desiring in the slightest to wake the other up, but trying to cast the nightmare away with his presence. And indeed, after few moments of caressing the raven haired hair, he seemed to calm down, continuing to sleep peacefully.

But this moment made the fire mage wonder about something.

When the curse was still present, how many times may have his brother call his name in utter desperation? How many times did he beg for help of his sibling, which Natsu was completely oblivious to? The curse locking his personality up in a cage, unable to say what he wanted to, unable to do what he wanted to. People passing him but either overlooked it or just simply didn't care.

How many times must he have cried for help? In a prison, from which there was no escape, begging for death as an emergency exit, which was inaccessible to him? How many times did he hope for the only family he had left to save him from this despair, only for Natsu to look away? Ignoring that part of him locked up, looking only at the front, which the curse forced him to put up.

He suddenly felt like crying, which he maybe was, considering the burn he felt in his eyes. Natsu wasn't sure if he would be able to take it if he was on Zeref's place. And when he imagined what pain and betrayal must he have felt as he watched Natsu abandon him just like the rest…

He took a blanket seemingly out of nowhere and put it gently over his brother's figure, leaving him to his sleep as he exited the room.

His brother was happy at the moment, Natsu was back by his side, curse no longer in effect, his kingdom either uncaring or unknowing of who he was, and even Mavis came back from the "dead".

Natsu will make sure it stays that way, he won't let his brother feel hope only for it to be taken away right when it was in his reach. He won't let anyone ruin this peace they had now, or the relationships his elder sibling considered important.

Even if it meant getting rid of Gray Fullbuster for eternity.

* * *

As he was passing the long hallways, he noticed someone following him shortly after he left the main room, so he instantly felt wary, unsure of who it could be. He sped up his pace and turned around few corners, only to stop right after the last one and have someone crash into him lightly and fall down with a quiet groan.

When he turned around, Natsu saw Mavis sitting on the floor, rubbing her head which she probably bumped.

"What are you doing?" he asked bewilderedly, having no idea why she would have the need to follow _him_ out of all people.

"Oh!" she jumped back up, dusting her dress off and then smiled fondly at him when she was finished "I just wanted to thank you." She admitted shyly.

"Thank me? For what?" He watched her with confused expression.

"For Zeref, of course" she said matter-of-factly, but he could see the sadness appear in her eyes as she continued. "When I met him on that day for the first time, he seemed so lonely and dejected…almost as if all the life has been drained from him…now he's lively and all the time surrounded by good people…because of you"

Mavis started reminiscing about those times, how he avoided everyone right from the start, attempted to leave the second he saw her, afraid of anything alive that got close to him.

But the second she asked for his help, even though hesitantly, he agreed. It was because of Zeref Magnolia was saved, and Fairy Tail born. He was an ideal for her, someone she was trying to reach at that time. And even after he revealed his name to her, she still felt the same for some unknown reason.

Because despite of who he was, he looked so fragile and lonely to her, and she felt drawn to the mystery air that enveloped his being.

And so she fell in love. For the first and last time in her life. Who would have thought? Her, a bookworm whom was isolated from the rest of the world on her little island, and him, the cruel legend that traveled all around.

Such situations were so common for the romance books she read in the past, but in reality it felt so strange, and sometimes she wondered if it was fate.

"Did you really?" Natsu asked all of a sudden, his expression unreadable, breaking her from her trance.

She stared at him bemusedly, tilting her head in silent question for him to ask again.

And so he did, and for a long while Mavis tried to process his query, thinking if he could read her thoughts the seconds earlier. "Did you really love him?"

"Huh?"

He seemed angered for some reason, and it only got worse. "You proclaim that you understand him, yet I never heard you defend him. You said you love him, yet I never saw you stay by his side. You were there with us, accusing him and planning how to kill him off. He fell in love for real, but did you?"

She didn't move a muscle as he finished his speech. His hands balled into fists and the knuckles turned white as he tried to hold himself off. This was Zeref's love of his life, he should not say such things. "I'm sorry, I will take my leave now." He turned away swiftly and left the castle with the fastest speed he managed to walk at, leaving Mavis on her own.

It broke her heart, but she knew there was at least a little right in what he said. Yes, she did know the curse messed up with Zeref's head, she _knew_ it. But what could she do when he decided to die? What could she have done to prevent him from declaring war? She was a ghost before, she couldn't touch things, and she didn't know how to lift of his curse, if there even was a way.

Which apparently was, and Natsu found it. She was grateful for that really, he succeeded in something she failed at. Truth to be told, she expected Zeref to be mad at her, to blame her for leaving him right when she said she will stay by his side and find the cure along with him.

But he did no such thing, and that made her forget. Well, until now anyway. But it was true, when she told her story about them to Fairy Tail, she attempted no defense of Zeref's side, she didn't tell them he wasn't doing it out of his own volition, but what would that accomplish?

Clearly, it would change a lot, as Natsu proved.

She sighted, Zeref was blaming himself that he couldn't stop it, while she was blaming herself for not helping him. But she saw guilt in the fire dragon slayer's eyes as well, and she wondered why he, out of all people was feeling guilty.

Mavis looked down ashamed and kicked some invisible stone on the floor. _Well, guess I will go to sleep now, I got no mood for anything else anymore…´._

And so, with slow pace and heavy heart, she left the scene.

* * *

He fucked up, he knew. Once Zeref founds about him arguing with Mavis, he's so gonna kill him.

Well, that would probably be still a light punishment.

But he couldn't help himself, the face she was making while daydreaming about his brother, while he recalled her posture as she declared that he needs to be killed, it just made him angry. And he was known for his inability to hold himself back, be it with his magic power or emotionally.

He sighed as the rain poured onto him, starting to relax more and more as he was further and further from the castle. He was going to get an earful for sure, not to mention it's gonna be now harder to get them together than it already was.

He stopped and looked at the darkened sky, feeling down. He lashed out at Mavis, but in the end, who was he to say such things? He was worse, way worse. The lack of his memories wasn't an excuse. He attempted to kill his own brother – his last family, and why? He had many enemies up until now, but he never had the desire to fight more after he beat them up. He gave them second chance with a smile on his face, why couldn't he do the same that time, when he met Zeref for the first time?

When he cried the second he saw Natsu, with relief in his eyes as he saw that he grew up into a fine man, with a happy life.

Unlike the black mage himself.

All his family speeches, all his claims he said to his friends when cheered them up as they faced their harsh past…where was it all when it came to his own?

Who was he to judge Mavis, when he killed his own family? Sure, the Tartaros demons weren't exactly his _family_ , but the first few years after his resurrection he spent with them were amazing, and they didn't care that they weren't blood related, they were happy together.

And what he did when Tartaros needed his help? He killed them all with Fairy Tail, that's what he did. Even though it wasn't their fault, even though they were really close to him back then.

Well, no reason thinking about that now, what has been done was done, there was no changing it, no matter how much he wished to.

He sighed again and continued on his way to nowhere, by now completely drenched, but that didn't bother him.

Well, at least that was his plan, until an ice blade passed like 1 centimeter in front of his face.

 _´Ah, c_ ' _mon, not now…´_ he thought with annoyance, another fight with the ice mage was not something he wanted to do right now, especially when he was feeling so down.

The guy seemed to have other plans though, as he emerged proudly from the bushes near, charging at the poor demon, who just simply dodged.

He was so not in the mood right now.

"Stop running away!" no one else than Gray Fullbuster yelled, chasing Natsu at each step as he seemingly dodged all his attacks.

It didn't matter if he shot him with a cannon ball, or tried to cut him up with saucer, or even trying to freeze him in an ice pillar…none of it worked. The ice either melted away before he got near the fire demon, or Natsu just jumped away, looking as bothered as if he wasn't even worth of his time.

So he did an insidious thing.

He created an ice sword in his hand, which he threw in the fire mage's direction carefully. Natsu seemed confused and gave him the what-the-fuck look as he missed completely without him even attempting to avoid the hit, not realizing this time that was not Gray's plan in the beginning. In the meantime, the ice mage created ice blades going up from his elbows, charging again at the fire dragon slayer who finally got into battle position.

But what threw Natsu off was that when Gray was near enough to hit him…when they were almost face to face…

…he moved away.

And then the demon felt a sharp pain in his back.

He coughed up a few drops of blood and looked on his stomach, seeing the exact same sword the devil slayer threw earlier cutting through his body.

But what threw him off more, was the amused look Gray gave him as he shifted his gaze on him, looking as if he enjoyed the situation.

 _´Even if it means getting rid of Gray Fullbuster completely´_

He grinned devilishly, ignoring the pain as he lowered his body temperature and took the sword in his hand, slowly pulling out of his body.

After he was finished with that he still held onto it, facing Gray with the evilest grin he managed to do. "I think it's time for you to learn a lesson" he spoke in dangerously low tone.

Gray froze.

* * *

 **So thats it, sorry if I made any mistakes :)**

 **I will explain the Tartaros thingie more in detail and why Natsu feels guilty about it in the chapter when his past is revealed...  
**

 **...so for now...**

 **...RUNNING AWAY FOR LEAVING ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER!**

 **ALAERIIIS!**


	19. Guilt

**Hiii theeere!**

 **I know I did not update for soooo long, but I was just hell busy and I could not apologize enough for it T.T, gonna have some tie to write now, although not much since Im already preparing applications for college this month, but I will try to update more than once in 4 months :D :D**

 **Anyhow!**

 **Guest from - Aww thank you a loot! I still have mistakes in the grammar in the story, + im not really good on desribing the situation as many other writers all, but I always spend hours nagging my brain about thinking of new ways how to improve. Yes I do realize the waiting is long, I am sorry for that, but I got last year in high school and its true hell :D**

 **Ladyfire-Azula - I think I read most of the stories you wrote, and really and truly enjoyed them. You are very good writer with - at least according to me- original ideas, which is appreciated. I dont read LucyxNatsu stories for example, just because they are all with the same - or nearly the same plot. Ya always surprise me tho :D Gray will not chill, we all know that, or at least not for a while. Natsu knows it was bad thing to say, but he will make up for it in the next chapter :)**

 **Dank Dang - Awww, thank you 3**

 **Deboo - Im trying my best here T.T**

 **WhiteWolf - Uh...yea...the chapter is ready...after 4 months...*cough* *cough* So...yeah :D**

 **Laxusdrayer2324 - Not yet :D**

 **IndigoWolfie - of course they will, soon enough! :D**

 **Writing bunny - I had something similar happen, it was not exactly the same speech, but it was near the tartarus arc, well I wanted to show it as flashback when Zervis starts getting real, so dont worry ;) (I tend to explain everything with flashbacks . is that bad? :D)**

 **Titania1796 - Right T.T Poor Natsu**

 **Wolves silver wind - things are going to get better soon :) Well...some of them :D**

 **Fannafic - Aww, thank you for the compliments, it still is gonna be NatsuxGray story, but as I said, its main focus is not on their romance, its gonna show when the end of the story will come near :)**

 **Shinigami Of The Elder Gods - Thanks a lot, I really am glad it inspired someone :) My concept of yaoi was never the real...you know...sexy and dangerous and whatever stuff, I like fluff, and the feelings, I like to write about the feelings the most :D So if someone expected lemon or some relationship actions, theres gonna be just like one kiss and thats it, otherwise its really mostly about feelings, so I dont think you need to be afraid. I tried to get beta once, but our progress was real slow, as I had many things needed to somehow polish, and he didnt have time for it anymore. I tried then to find someone who would beta GrayxNatsu story, but no one on the beta list likes this pairing so...eh :D**

 **Ghost Lady Noah - Cause theyre the best duh...:D Well yea, nothing good for Gray, but for Gray the worst didnt come yet...MUAHAHAHHA**

 **Angel Lightwolf - I literraly fell love on the first sight when I saw him pop up on the screen for the first time 3**

 **Well...almost 1am in here, got tests tomorrow, so gn guys! I apologize if there are any mistakes, but I reread it quite a few times so I hope there are not.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

If you would ask him about why or how, he would say it does not matter. There was no real reason, nor he knew about how could it all get so wrong. The question, according to him, should be when.

When did this all start exactly?

" _You two cause nothing but trouble!" shouted a little red haired girl, standing in front of two boys that guiltily sat on the ground, looking down in shame._

 _They refused to look at her, because they could imagine what expression she would wear, and had no desire to see it. They were both beaten up badly, not only from the fight they had few moments ago, but also the punishment of the girl's wrath._

 _Neither one of them wanted to hurt anybody, except the other boy of course. But how could they know that someone will try to stop them from their daily fights?_

 _They could not look into Erza's eyes to see the rage, nor could they look into the eyes of Lisanna, because they know they will get drowned in their own regret._

But maybe it was all given from the start.

He knew he was enraged, and he knew the cause of it was betrayal. Which made him even more angry, because he was the one who betrayed them in first place, so this shouldn't have come as such a surprise. The feeling of cold still haunted his now healed chest, and he was still baffled about how did the hatred in Gray grew so much.

Still, the fact that he was the receiver of that hatred hurt, it hurt to the point of not being able to take it without consequences. He didn't want to fight. Not with his friends at least. The sore reason for all the commotion was for the war, and all the battles that would follow, to end after all.

The cold wind blew past him, making the leaves on the trees that surrounded them rustle, as if daring him to keep breaking the already cracked bond between the two once best friends, along with the cold rain, which was drenching them both, adding a sorrowful mood, almost like if it was lamenting the situation Natsu was in right now. He still didn't get when did this all start. Yes, he realized the reason for the ice mage's hatred for Deliora, but what did E.N.D. do to him? What did Zeref do to him?

Yes, Deliora was born from Zeref's magic, but that's like blaming a founder of magic for being evil, simply because magic could be used for evil as well. Same with Tower of Heaven, as far as Natsu knew, his brother had nothing to do with that, except writing the blueprints long time ago. And E.N.D.? Natsu was sealed away when he was a little kid. Except one case, he did not cause any harm in the past, so what made Gray hate _him_?

He leaped onto the ice mage, and slashed him mercilessly with the sword made from the raven-haired's own magic. Gray, whom was completely frozen on place just few moments before just barely managed to dodge, but the fire mage was able to scratch his arm.

 _It was just not fair_.

The devil slayer was still recovering from his shock, which made his reactions slow, and Natsu seemed to use it to his advantage perfectly. No matter where Gray side stepped, the dragon slayer would be already one step ahead of him, creating more and more scratches as he continued to swing the ice sword around, aiming for, as Gray presumed, his vital spots.

When Natsu charged and aimed for his stomach, Gray jumped back, which was a huge mistake. With reactions equal to some wild animal, the fire mage jumped after him, boosting his speed by using his magic on his legs as a little rockets. Caught by surprise in the air, Gray had no chance to dodge the incoming blow, and he had no choice but to endure the pain as he felt his shoulder being completely pierced through, along with the fall that followed afterwards.

Once he could again register what was in front of him, he saw Natsu hovering above him, with very scary and dominating expression on his face, analyzing him with his eyes as if he was his prey.

"Don't you still get it?" he asked Gray in a way you would ask small kid about a simple question. "I am immortal, even if you pierce through my heart million times, the only one who can die in these fights…is you."

He left the sword buried in the ice mage's shoulder and walked away.

He was feeling cold, but whether it was from the rain or something else, he didn't question.

* * *

It was dark…and cold. On one sided he wanted to go home, an on the other not. He was not sure how he would be welcomed in the morning after Zeref figured out his quarrel with Mavis, but it felt lonely to spend his time wandering alone with rain pouring down on him.

He didn't even have energy anymore to dry himself off, or maybe he didn't care.

He sighed, because he realized that inside, he already started questioning himself and his choices. He missed his times in Fairy Tail, but he would not exchange what he has now for anything. He was a selfish person, because he wanted to laugh with his friends, have stupid fights with Gray about completely nothing, but he also wanted to spend time teasing Acnologia, he wanted to see the excitement in his brother's long dead eyes, watching him find the fun in living again. But he had to choose one, he couldn't have both, so he had to convince himself that this was the right choice, this was _his_ choice, and even if it was wrong, there's no reason to think about what could have been, as well as there is no point in regrets. He had to move forward, and stop looking back.

Maybe unconsciously, but he noticed that he was going back, seeing the castle in distance, and the desire to go back home grew stronger.

But he felt like he didn't deserve to go inside.

Should he apologize to Mavis? Probably yes, but just the thought of him apologizing for spoken truth made him feel wrong. She probably sleeps now already anyway, and Zeref will get him for it either way, so there was really no reason to even try.

He used his fire for flying to the castle roof, so he would not be seen, he was not in the mood to confront anyone anymore, he wanted to be alone. It felt lonely, yes, he was not used to be alone, he was always surrounded by people, even in the worst times, but he felt like he might take out his rage, pain, and everything else he couldn't identify that he felt at the moment at the next person he will meet, so he wanted to avoid that situation as much as possible, he didn't need anymore arguments today. As he reached the roof's highest peak, he lied down on the cold and fragile roof tiles, watching the slowly moving grey clouds in the sky boringly, while still getting drenched by the continuous rain.

He closed his eyes while trying to ignore everything around him as his mind slowly faded into black, waiting patiently for the morning alone, in a place he hoped no one will disturb him at.

"What are you doing here all alone?" Acnologia came seemingly out of nowhere, moving to sit beside the fire mage.

There goes all hope of being alone, right down the drain…

He didn't answer him, trying to ignore the dragon's whole being.

"Hey, are you okay?" ex dragon king tried again to make the younger mage talk to him, this time even attempting to get him from his trance or sleep or whatever by shaking his shoulder, but he stiffened once he realized just how cold the other boy felt to his touch.

"You're cold" he stated

"So?" Natsu, already getting annoyed, decided to reply, aware that the dragon won't leave him alone unless he will get what he came for.

It really bugged Acnologia when the all-time hyperactive demon acted dejectedly like this, which seemed to happen a lot lately, and he probably knew the reason even without asking. "Don't give me that "so" crap! You're a fire mage! You're supposed to be warm!"

"So?"

If there was a way how to piss off Acnologia, surely Natsu must have been the only person on the world who could do it.

"Enough of this shit, you're coming with me back inside, I don't wanna hear any complains"

"You will hear them surely enough, because I refuse to go inside." The pink haired mage proclaimed stubbornly.

Acnologia sighed, knowing there had to be something wrong with the other, no normal person would just lie in middle of the rain. Well, this was Natsu he was talking about, there was nothing _normal_ about the boy, but still…

"Is it because of the fight with Mavis?" he asked, already knowing the answer once he saw how Natsu suddenly tensed up once he heard the name.

"You know about it?"

"I have the same ears as you, I hear a lot of things going around in this castle"

"I see" The fire mage did not bother with more answers than that, seemingly getting back into his trance earlier, closing his eyes and trying to ignore Acnologia yet again.

Well, he wouldn't have that now, _no one_ ignores the Apocalypse dragon. Plus, seeing the other so depressed lying out in the rain, feeling too guilty to even go back to the warmth the inside of castle offered, did not really add to the ex-dragon king's mood. Natsu obviously didn't want to move on his own, so the only option left was to use force.

Which Acnologia was good at, let's not create any illusions here of him being a good guy.

He grasped the dragon slayer's shoulders and ignored the immediate resistance he got, dragging Natsu all over the roof.

"Hey, cut it out! Let me go!" Natsu tried to reach out behind him and get rid of Acnologia, however once he turned his head around and saw the pitiful expression on his face, he couldn't find words or strength to defend himself with.

"Natsu…" he started with a voice filled with such determination, worry and…care? The fire mage never heard him use that tone, and experiencing it for the first time took him by surprise. "…you're freezing cold, staying out in the rain with your clothes torn and don't think for even a minute that I can't smell that scent of your own blood just because rain washed it away. You've had another fight with Gray, haven't you?"

He wanted to protest but stopped himself before he uttered even half of a word, knowing there was no point in lying to the dragon, as he probably figured it out already. He looked away instead, he didn't want to see the worry, he didn't want to see the kindness or care.

He wanted none of it, because getting used to it was what led to his downfall.

Yes, Natsu admitted he was defenseless against Fairy Tail, because of the kindness he knew the guild for. No matter how much threatening words he may have said, or how much of an act he can put up, even if they all decide he is evil and try to kill him, he would not be able to truly hurt them. The only problem was… running away won't work for long, one day he will get caught, they will find out it was all just a bluff, and won't hesitate to use it against him, and he is not sure what will happen on that day.

Kind people were scary, because you are not able to fight back the kindness with hatred or force.

Acnologia sighed once he noticed Natsu's reaction. The boy was trying to blame himself even for the impossible things, shouldering it all himself, keeping it in, probably thinking he would bother someone if he mentioned something.

"Idiot, we're here for you, all of us. You can always share your worries." He whispered gently to Natsu, not sure if he could say such words out loud. "There's no one who would chase you down just because you said what you had on your mind, even if Zeref probably won't like it, but we're talking about his girlfriend here, of course he won't like anyone saying something hurtful to her, even if it is truth. More importantly, this was about something Zeref blames himself for more than anyone else, and refuses to let go of it. Honestly when someone starts to observe the behavior of you two, you are so similar it's astounding. So, please, stop acting like a kicked puppy and come back inside with me. Alright?"

Silence was what followed, but Acnologia was patient, he waited for Natsu to sort it all out. Even if the other would still refuse, he will not budge, he will not give up on this. It was his responsibility to stay by this boy's side, when no one could hear his silent whimpering that he held deep inside. The guy lost everything he was building for many years. His guild –his family-, his "father", that Acnologia himself killed, and yet he saw nor hatred nor desire for revenge in Natsu's eyes. Natsu did not complain, or blame anyone, nor he kept grudges it seemed.

Whether it was true or not, the dragon did not know, but he will surely did not see any signs, and he will try his best to support this naïve, stupid, and mostly oblivious boy, as he was the one who gave him something he didn't have for 400 years. In just a second, Acnologia acquired home, and he was surrounded by nice people he could even call friends now.

All because of Natsu sparing him in their fight and reaching out to him, instead of craving vengeance for Igneel's death.

He was broke out of his line of thoughts once he saw Natsu nodding and starting to get up, ready to go back inside. Acnologia smiled and ruffled the pink's hair softly, proud he is still able to accept help of someone else, while already moving to walk in front.

Because, in reality, being drenched to the bone with cold wind blowing, was not a good feeling. He wasn't even a damn fire mage to keep himself warm, so as soon he was assured Natsu was following after him, he hurriedly kept fastening his pace, wanting to get to the nearest fireplace already.

Natsu smirked behind him, already completely dry because of his magic, but he decided to let Acnologia suffer a little bit more. He interrupted his moment to himself, after all, he will not let that go easily.

When they got inside, ignoring the overgrown lizard's grumbling about being the only one wet, they both decided to go back to their rooms and get some rest. Acnologia wishing for the warmth of blankets, while Natsu suddenly felt exhausted after all the night's and morning's events.

But the demon couldn't help himself but to say thank you, as he passed Acnologia in the long hallway.

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 **See ya in like...one or two weeks...I will see how long its gonna take me write the chapter for the other story...Thanks all for your patience and hanging in there waiting for the update! Love ya all!**

 **Btw...Next Chapter: OPERATION ZERVIS**


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